THE  BUDDHA'S 
'WAY  OF  VIRTUE' 


MVISDOM^ 


/7 


Ube  Misfcom  of  tbe  East  Series 


EDITED  BY 

L.   CRANMER-BYNG 

Dr.    S.    A.    KAPADIA 


THE    BUDDHA'S 
WAY   OF   VIRTUE 


THE    BUDDHIST   IDEAL 

"  '  Eschew  all  evil :  cherish  good  :  cleanse  your  inmost 
thoughts  '—this  is  the  teaching  of  Buddhas." 

Dhammapada,  183. 

"  Everything  has  two  handles,  the  one  by  which  it  may 
be  carried,  the  other  by  which  it  may  not.  ...  Lay  hold 
of  the  handle  by  which  it  can  be  carried." 

EPICTETUS  (Encheiridion  xliii). 


WISDOM  OF  THE  EAST 

THE   BUDDHA'S 
WAY    OF   VIRTUE" 


A  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  DHAMMAPADA 
FROM   THE   PALI  TEXT 

BY  W.   D.   C.  WAGISWARA 


K.   J.   SAUNDERS 

MEMBERS   OF   THE   ROYAL  ASIATIC   SOCIETY,    CEYLON    BRANCH 


NEW  YORK 

E.   P.   DUTTON   AND   COMPANY 
1912 


TO 

N.  P.  C. 


2005505 


CONTENTS 


NOTE     

.     19 

EDITORIAL  NOTE      ..... 

.     20 

§1- 

THE  TWIN  TRUTHS 

.     21 

II. 

ZEAL    ...... 

.     24 

III. 

THE  MIND    ..... 

.     26 

IV. 

FLOWERS      

.     28 

V. 

THE  FOOL    

.     30 

VI. 

THE  WISE  MAN    .... 

.     32 

VII. 

THE  ARAHAT         .... 

.     34 

VIII. 

THE  THOUSANDS   .... 

.     36 

IX. 

VICE    

.     38 

X. 

PUNISHMENT         .... 

.     40 

XI. 

OLD  AGE     

.     42 

XII. 

SELF    

.     44 

XIII. 

THE  WORLD          .... 

46 

XIV. 

48 

XV. 

BLISS  . 

.     51 

7 

CONTENTS 


§  XVI.  AFFECTION  ..... 

.     53 

XVII.    ANGER        

.     55 

XVIII.    SIN    

.     57 

XIX.    THE  RIGHTEOUS 

.     60 

XX.    THE  PATH          .... 

.     62 

XXI.    MISCELLANY       .... 

.     66 

XXII.    HELL         

.     68 

XXIII.    THE  ELEPHANT           .         .         . 

.     70 

XXIV.    DESIRE      .         .         .         . 

.     72 

XXV.    THE  BHIKKHU   .... 

.     76 

XXVI.    THE  BRAHMIN  .... 

79 

NOTES    ....... 

.     85 

ILLUSTRATIVE    SAYINGS    OF   THE    DISCIPLES 

OF 

THE  BUDDHA      ..... 

.   100 

APPENDIX:  THE  BUDDHIST  IDEAL     . 

.   102 

INTRODUCTION 

§1 

THE  Dhammapada  was  accepted  at  the  Council 
of  Asoka  in  240  B.C.  as  a  collection  of  the  sayings 
of  Gautama  ;  yet  it  was  not  put  into  writing 
until  some  generations  had  passed,  and  probably 
contains  accretions  of  later  date. 

However  that  may  be,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  breathes  the  very  spirit  of  the  Teacher,  and 
it  has  always  been  used  in  Buddhist  lands  as 
a  handbook  of  "  devotion  "  or  meditation,  in 
whose  solemn  precepts  men  hear  the  voice  of 
Sakyamuni  summoning  them  to  the  life  of  con- 
templation, of  strenuous  mind-culture.  The 
world,  it  tells  them,  is  without  permanence  or 
purpose,  other  than  that  of  expiation ;  the 
body  is  "a  nest  of  disease  "  and  the  seat  of 
"  desire  "  ;  the  mind  itself  is  subject  to  decay, 
and  capricious,  easily  led  away  after  false  pursuits. 

Yet  here,  in  the  mind  of  man,  lies  his  hope 
of  salvation  :  he  may  make  it  a  strong  tower 
of  defence.  Though  the  world  is  out  of  gear, 


10  INTRODUCTION 

yet,  like  the  Stoic,  he  may  build  within  himself 
a  kingdom  and  be  at  peace. 

-And  so  the  call  to  "  play  the  man  "  rings  out 
with  sturdy  confidence.  All  men  may  attain,  if 
they  will,  to  happiness  and  serenity,  for,  with  a 
modern  Stoic,  the  Buddhist  proclaims  : 

"  I  am  the  master  of  my  fate  ; 

I  am  the  captain  of  my  soul." 

Gautama  then  was  no  thoroughgoing  pessimist ; 
that  such  a  nature  was  pessimistic  at  all  is  due 
to  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  It  was  the 
"  sub-conscious  mind  "  of  his  nation,  and  not 
his  own  brave  spirit,  that  shut  him  in  to  the 
belief  in  a  ceaseless  flux  of  "  becoming,"  a  weary 
round  of  pain  and  retribution.  For,  by  the 
sixth  century  B.C.,  India  had  passed  from  the 
sunny  paganism  of  the  Rig  Veda  into  a  more 
thoughtful  and  more  gloomy  phase  of  her 
religious  development. 

There  were  not  wanting  heroic  spirits  who 
offered  a  way  of  escape,  urging  men  to  plunge 
into  asceticism  or  to  court  the  mystic  trance. 
These  were  the  religious  leaders  of  the  day,  at 
whose  feet  Gautama  sat.  Others,  the  great  ma- 
jority, were  not  ready  for  such  heroic  measures. 
They  tried  to  square  the  gods,  and  to  live  un- 
molested, or  to  forget  all  in  the  pleasures  of 
sense  or  the  more  subtle  joys  of  the  intellect. 

To    Gautama,    all    alike    seemed    "  to   follow 


INTRODUCTION  11 

Wandering  fires."  How  degrading  this  thraldom 
to  immoral  and  capricious  gods  !  How  empty 
and  unsatisfying  this  mysticism  when  shorn  of  all 
ethical  content !  Which  is  more  to  be  pitied,  the 
grasping  priest  or  the  foolish  worshipper  ?  Which 
more  deluded,  the  worldling  or  the  devotee  ? 

To  all  alike  the  Dhammapada  has  a  message 
of  warning  and  encouragement :  to  the  worldling 
it  holds  out  the  promise  of  a  truer  wealth  and 
fame  (75,  303)  and  a  more  blessed  family  life 
(204-7,  302) ;  to  the  warrior  it  offers  a  higher 
"  chivalry "  (270)  and  a  more  heroic  contest 
(103,  104) ;  to  the  philosopher  a  deeper  wisdom 
than  much  speaking  (28,  100,  258) ;«  to  the 
mystic  a  purer  and  more  lasting  bliss  (197-200) ;  to 
the  devotee  a  more  fruitful  sacrifice  (106-7) ;  and 
to  the  Brahmin  a  more  ennobling  service  (§  xxvi) 
and  a  more  compelling  authority  (73,  74).  It  is, 
in  fact,  possible  largely  to  reconstruct  the  religious 
life  of  Gautama's  day  from  the  stanzas  of  the 
Dhammapada. 

For  all  classes  the  Buddha  has  the  same 
message  :  the  great  reality  is  character ;  all 
else  are  shadows  not  worth  pursuing,  for  none 
of  them  strengthens  moral  fibre,  and  all  alike 
are  tainted  with  "  desire." 

Like  Socrates,  he  saw  in  himself  a  physician  of 
the  soul,  and  at  times  he  resorted  to  surgery 
to  "  stab  the  spirit  broad  awake,"  to  call  men 
from  superstition  on  the  one  hand  and  materialism 


12  INTRODUCTION 

on  the  other.  With  Epictetus  he  would  have 
said,  "  A  philosopher's  school,  my  friends,  is 
a  surgery,  on  leaving  which  you  look  to  have 
felt,  not  pleasure  but  pain." 

Men  needed  above  all  things  a  moral  tonic  ; 
there  lies  the  secret  at  once  of  his  stoicism  and 
his  agnosticism  ;  luxury  here,  a  barren  mysticism 
there — these  were  sapping  men's  strength,  and 
all  the  energy  they  could  command  was  needed 
in  the  fight  for  character.  They  must  strive 
and  agonise  to  "  cut  out  desire,"  to  push  their 
way  "  against  the  stream,"  to  cross  life's  stormy 
"  ocean  "  and  reach  the  haven  of  peace.  And 
they  must  do  it  alone,  not  trusting  to  priest, 
or  sacrifice,  or  the  help  of  Heaven. 

For  this  insistence  upon  morality  to  the 
exclusion  of  "  religion  "  Gautama  is  often  labelled 
"  atheist."  Nothing  could  be  more  unfair : 
agnostic  he  may  have  been  or  seemed  to  be ; 
but  his  was  no  irreligious  spirit :  the  man  who 
scoffs  at  the  "  other  world "  he  condemns  in 
uncompromising  terms,  and  Ethics  so  lofty  as 
this  "  Way  of  Virtue  "  never  emanated  from 
any  but  a  reverent  spirit.  It  is  one  of  the 
puzzles  of  Psychology  that  so  pure  a  soul  ever 
stopped  short  at  Ethics  ;  yet  we  must  remember 
that  he  was  a  reformer,  that  reformers  are  apt 
to  be  one-sided,  and  that  during  long  and  painful 
years  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  a  false 
"  religiosity  "  ;  the  iron  had  entered  into  his  soul. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

"  If  Buddhists  admit  neither  judge  norcreator," 
says  Professor  de  la  Vallee  Poussin,  "at  least 
they  recognise  a  sovereign  and  infallible  justice 
— a  justice  of  wonderful  insight  and  adaptability, 
however  mechanically  it  acts.  ...  In  my  opinion 
it  is  a  calumny  to  accuse  Buddhists  of  atheism : 
they  have,  at  any  rate,  taken  full  cognisance 
of  one  of  the  aspects  of  the  divine."  * 

Gautama  believed  above  all  things  in  a  moral 
order,  which,  if  it  is  inexorable,  is  also  too  righteous 
to  yield  to  sacrificial  bribes  : 

"  Not  in  the  sky,  nor  in  mid-ocean,  nor  in  mountain-cave, 
can  one  find  sanctuary  from  his  sin.  .  .  .  Often  do  men  in 
terror  seek  sanctuary  in  mountains  and  in  jungles,  by  sacred 
groves  or  trees  :  in  them  there  is  no  safe  sanctuary." 
(Dhammapada,  127,  188-9.) 

So  too  the  Psalmist  cries,  "Whither  shall  I 
flee  from  Thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  into 
heaven,  Thou  art  there:  if  I  go  down  to  hell, 
Thou  art  there  also." 

Like  the  Hebrew  prophet,  too,  he  strikes  a 
note  of  strenuous  endeavour,  of  profound  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  actual,  and  of  aspiration 
after  the  ideal :  unlike  the  Hebrew  and  the 
Christian,  he  sees  in  the  actual  no  promise  of 
the  ideal.  His  "  way  of  salvation  "  is  therefore 
monastic  ;  men  are  to  leave  the  world  if  they 
would  escape  suffering  and  be  truly  happy : 
the  layman  may  one  day  attain  the  far-off  goal, 

*  Bouddhisme,  p.  70. 


14  INTRODUCTION 

but  for  him  remains  a  long  and  weary  pilgrimage, 
many  revolutions  of  the  wheel  of  existence. 

It  is  to  Bhikkhus  then  that  these  stanzas  are 
in  the  main  addressed.  They  are  comments 
made  by  the  Teacher  to  his  disciples  as  occasion 
arose  ;  and  to  study  them  in  a  sympathetic 
spirit  we  of  the  West  must  for  a  time  forget 
our  impatience  with  "  cloistered  virtue."  The 
saintly  life  in  the  world  is  no  doubt  a  truer 
ideal  than  the  saintly  life  out  of  it,  yet  saintliness 
of  any  type  is  not  to  be  despised. 

The  Buddhist  holds  that  in  contemplative 
activity  a  man  may  best  serve  the  world  :  is 
i£  not  true  that  "  we  need  reservoirs  of  every 
kind  of  excellence  "  ?  We  read  in  the  Dhamma- 
pada  of  the  fragrance  of  holy  deeds  which 
pervades  the  high  heavens,  and  of  the  light 
that  such  a  life  may  cast  athwart  a  dark  world. 
The  "  religious "  is  more  to  be  envied  than 
kings  or  even  gods,  and  more  fruitful. 

"  Good  is  kingship  of  the  earth  ; 
Good  attaining  heavenly  birth : 
World-conquest's  good,  but  better  far 
The  fruits  of  true  conversion  are." 

(Dhammapada,   178.) 

These  fruits  are  "  self -reverence,  self-knowledge, 
self-control "  (c/.  261) ;  self-culture  is  in  the 
end  the  truest  benevolence,  says  the  Buddhist, 
and  the  deepest  wisdom.  That  "  wisdom  "  of 
which  we  shall  hear  so  much  in  the  following 


INTRODUCTION  15 

pages,  is  "a  certain  over-mastering  principle 
or  power,  that  lays  hold,  primarily  indeed,  of  the 
intellect,  but  through  the  intellect  of  the  entire 
personality,  moulding  and  disciplining  the  will 
and  the  emotions  into  absolute  unison  with 
itself,  a  principle  from  which  courage,  temperance, 
justice,  and  every  other  virtue  inevitably  flow."  * 

"  A  man  is  not  wise  by  much  speaking.  ,  .  .  He  is  the 
wise  man  who  is  forgiving,  kindly,  and  without  fear." 

(Dhammapada,  258.) 

For  Gautama  sees  in  ignorance  not  merely  a 
calamity,  but  also  a  moral  fault ;  he  agrees 
with  the  Darwinians  in  recognising  in  man  the 
ape  and  the  tiger,  but  adds,  with  Dr.  Creighton, 
that  "  when  the  ape  and  the  tiger  go,  there  still 
remains  the  donkey,  a  far  more  formidable 
beast."  f 

Moha,  infatuation,  and  Avijjd,  ignorance,  are 
everywhere,  and  "  Ignorance  is  the  greatest  of 
taints,  more  destructive  than  avarice  and  im- 
purity." (Ibid.,  242,  243.) 

He  himself  was  the  "  enlightened,"  "  the 
seer "  who  by  insight  had  won  emancipation, 
and  he  teaches  that  if  men  will  only  see  things 
as  they  are,  then  they  cannot  but  eschew  evil 
and  do  good ;  but  the  great  multitude  are 

*  Dr.  J.  Adam,  The  Religious  Teachers  of  Greece,  p.  329. 

f  Tibetan  Buddhism  illustrates  these  three  cardinal  vices 
by  pictures  of  the  cook  (lust),  the  snake  (anger),  and  the  hog 
(stupidity). 


16  INTRODUCTION 

fools  and  blind.  To  give  them  new  ideals  and 
to  lift  the  veil  off  their  darkened  hearts — this 
was  the  work  of  Gautama,  and  in  attempting  it 
he  revealed  a  sturdy  optimism  and  a  magnetic 
personality  which  went  far  to  energise  his  ideal. 
These  qualities  place  him  high  amongst  ethical 
teachers. 

§H 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  his  system  as  religion  ? 
The  student  of  these  pages  will  find  himself  in 
a  moonlit  world,  beautiful  yet  cold : 

"  A  common  greyness  silvers  everything." 

Here  is  no  "  sunset  touch,"  no  mystic  hint  of 
Him  "  whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting 
suns  "  ;  our  hearts  are  not  stirred  as  we  read 
by  any  assurance  of  the  reality  of  the  Unseen. 
Mysticism  in  short  finds  no  entrance  here — a 
fact  which  makes  the  Dhammapada  almost 
unique  amongst  the  great  things  of  religious 
literature.  Instead  we  find  "  common  sense  " 
supreme,  mathematical,  and  a  little  cold,  yet 
confident  of  itself  and  of  its  firm  grasp  of  all 
the  factors  in  life's  equation.  Instead  of  passion 
and  romance  we  shall  find  self-mastery  and  a 
half- humorous  sweet  reasonableness.  Every- 
where Law  is  at  work,  and  there  is  nothing 
besides  :  no  hint  of  whence  law  emanates,  of 
how  it  works,  or  why.  These  are  questions  alike 


INTRODUCTION  17 

unprofitable  and  unanswerable.  It  is  enough, 
the  Buddha  would  say,  that  the  world  makes  for 
righteousness,  that  sin  is  punished,  and  that 
goodness  does  not  go  unrewarded.  "  As  you 
sow,  so  shall  you  reap."  Happiness  is  the  bloom 
upon  virtue  ;  sorrow  is  the  blight  upon  sin  : 
and  this  is  the  ultimate  motive  to  the  strenuous 
life. 

"  Is  such  a  world  worth  while  ?  "  asks  full- 
blooded  Youth.  "  And  is  a  calm  like  this 
enough  ?  "  "  The  world,"  comes  the  serene 
answer,  "  is  worth  nothing  at  all :  it  has  no 
reality  and  no  purpose,  save  that  of  retribution  : 
man's  only  happiness  is  to  escape.  The  calm 
and  peaceful  frame  of  mind  is  the  only  happy 
one,  the  promise  of  a  Rest  hereafter,  ineffable 
and  placid  :  to  this  man  can  and  must  attain." 


K.  J.  S. 


TEINITY  COLLEGE,  KANDY. 
£atte/'tide,  1912. 


NOTE 

AN  accurate  and  sympathetic  knowledge  of 
Buddhism  and  of  the  spirit  of  the  Buddha  is 
best  got  from  such  a  book  as  the  Dhammapada, 
which  contains  the  concentrated  essence  of  the 
religion.  In  view  of  widespread  misinterpreta- 
tion, a  literal  and  accessible  translation  of  this 
book,  therefore,  needs  no  apology.  I  have 
worked  at  the  translation  throughout  with  my 
friend  Mr.  Wagiswara,  himself  a  Buddhist,  and 
for  many  years  a  Bhikkhu  ;  that  fact  and  the 
appearance  of  our  translation  in  this  series  will 
vouch  for  sympathetic  treatment  in  the  rendering. 
It  is  notoriously  difficult  to  find  the  exact  English 
equivalents  of  Eastern  terms,  yet  we  trust  that 
the  spirit  has  been  truly  reproduced,  and  our 
version  aims  rather  at  accuracy  than  at  elegance. 
Great  thoughts  are  best  "  plain-set,"  and  more- 
over it  is  impossible  to  reproduce  the  music  of 
the  old  slokas  of  Indian  poetry.  We  have 
referred  frequently  to  Dr.  Fausb  oil's  Latin 
version,  and  occasionally  to  Professor  Max 
Miiller's  edition  in  "The  Sacred  Books  of  the 
East."  Only  where  the  Sinhalese  and  Chinese 
commentaries  are  really  illuminating  have  I 
referred  to  them  in  the  notes,  for  which  I  am 
chiefly  responsible. 

K.  J.  S. 

19 


EDITORIAL  NOTE 

THE  object  of  the  Editors  of  this  series  is  a 
very  definite  one.  They  desire  above  all  things 
that,  in  their  humble  way,  these  books  shall  be 
the  ambassadors  of  good-will  and  understanding 
between  East  and  West — the  old  world  of  Thought 
and  the  new  of  Action.  In  this  endeavour,  and 
in  their  own  sphere,  they  are  but  followers  of  the 
highest  example  in  the  land.  They  are  confident 
that  a  deeper  knowledge  of  the  great  ideals  and 
lofty  philosophy  of  Oriental  thought  may  help 
to  a  revival  of  that  true  spirit  of  Charity  which 
neither  despises  nor  fears  the  nations  of  another 
creed  and  colour. 

L.  CRANMER-BYNG. 
S.  A.  KAPADIA. 


NOHTHBROOK  SOCIETY, 
21  CROMWELL  ROAD, 
KENSINGTON,  S.W. 


THE   BUDDHA'S 
"WAY  OF   VIRTUE" 


§i 

THE   TWIN   TRUTHS 

FOR  the  proper  understanding  of  Buddhism 
these  opening  stanzas  are  all-important.  One 
of  the  Buddha's  key-thoughts  was  what  modern 
psychologists  call  the  "law  of  apperception": 
the  value  of  things  depends  upon  our  attitude 
to  them. 

Part  of  Gautama's  work  of  reform  was  a  "trans- 
valuation  of  values,"  a  shifting  of  emphasis  ; 
and,  like  the  Stoics,  he  taught  the  indifference  of 
the  things  of  sense.  "  Men  are  disturbed,"  said 
Epictetus,  "  not  by  things,  but  by  the  view  they 
take  of  things." 

1 .  Mind  it  is  which  gives  to  things  their  quality, 
their  foundation,  and  their  being  :  whoso  speaks 
or  acts  with  impure  mind,  him  sorrow  dogs,  as 
the  wheel  follows  the  steps  of  the  draught-ox. 

2.  Mind  it  is  which  gives  to  things  their  quality, 

21 


22  THE   TWIN   TRUTHS 

their  foundation,  and  their  being :  whoso  speaks 
or  acts  with  purified  mind,  him  happiness  accom- 
panies as  his  faithful  shadow. 

3.  "He  has  abused  me,  beaten  me,  worsted 
me,  robbed  me  "  ;    those  who  dwell  upon  such 
thoughts  never  lose  their  hate, 

4.  "  He  has  abused  me,  beaten  me,  worsted 
me,  robbed  me  "  ;    those  who  dwell  not  upon 
such  thoughts  are  freed  of  hate. 

5.  Never  does  hatred  cease  by  hating  ;  by  not 
hating  does  it  cease  :   this  is  the  ancient  law. 

6.  If  some  there  are  who  know  not  by  such 
hatred  we  are  perishing,  and  some  there  are  who 
know  it,  then  by  their  knowledge  strife  is  ended. 

7.  As  the  wind  throws  down  a  shaky  tree,  so 
Mara  [Death]  o'erwhelms  him  who  is  a  seeker 
after  vanity,  uncontrolled,  intemperate,  slothful, 
and  effeminate. 

8.  But  whoso  keeps  his  eyes  from  vanity,  con- 
trolled and  temperate,  faithful  and  strenuous, 
Mara   cannot   overthrow,  as  the    wind   beating 
against  a  rocky  crag. 

9.  Though    an    impure    man    don    the    pure 
yellow  robe  [of  the  Bhikkhu],  himself  unindued 
with  temperance  and  truth,  he  is  not  worthy  of 
the  pure  yellow  robe. 

10.  He  who  has  doffed  his  impurities,  calm  and 
clothed   upon   with  temperance  and  truth,   he 
wears  the  pure  robe  worthily. 

11.  Those  who  mistake  the  shadow  for  the 


MIND    DISCIPLINE  23 

substance,  and  the  substance  for  the  shadow, 
never  attain  the  reality,  following  wandering 
fires  [lit.  followers  of  a  false  pursuit]. 

12.  But  if  a  man  knows  the  substance  and 
the  shadow  as  they  are,  he  attains  the  reality, 
following  the  true  trail. 

13.  As    the  rain  pours    into  the    ill-thatched 
house,  so  lust  pours  into  the  undisciplined  mind. 

14.  As  rain  cannot  enter  the  well-thatched  house, 
so  lust  finds  no  entry  into  the  disciplined  mind. 

15.  Here   and   hereafter  the   sinner  mourns  : 
yea   mourns   and   is   in   torment,   knowing   the 
vileness  of  his  deeds. 

16.  Here  and  hereafter  the  good  man  is  glad: 
yea  is  glad  and  rejoices,  knowing  that  his  deeds 
are  pure. 

17.  Here  and  hereafter  the  sinner  is  in  torment : 
tormented  by  the  thought   "  I  have  sinned  "  ; 
yea  rather  tormented  when  he  goes  to  hell. 

18.  Here  and  hereafter  the  good  man  rejoices  ; 
rejoices  as  he  thinks  "  I  have  done  well  "  :  yea 
rather  rejoices  when  he  goes  to  a  heaven. 

19.  If  a  man  is  a  great  preacher  of  the  sacred 
text,  but  slothful  and  no  doer  of  it,  he  is  a  hire- 
ling shepherd,  who  has  no  part  in  the  flock. 

20.  If  a  man  preaches  but  a  little  of  the  text 
and  practises  the  teaching,  putting  away  lust 
and  hatred  and  infatuation  ;   if  he  is  truly  wise 
and  detached  and  seeks  nothing  here  or  here- 
after, his  lot  is  with  the  holy  ones. 


§11 

ZEAL 

ZEAL  or  earnestness  (appamado)  plays  an  im- 
portant part  in  Buddhist  Ethics.  The  way  is 
steep,  therefore  let  the  wayfarer  play  the  man. 
Zeal  may  be  displayed  either  in  strenuous 
mind-culture  or  in  deeds  of  piety — these  are 
the  equivalents  of  "Faith"  and  "Works"  in 
the  Buddhist  system. 

21.  Zeal  is  the  way  to  Nirvana.     Sloth  is  the 
day  of  death.     The  zealous  die  not :  the  slothful 
are  as  it  were  dead. 

22.  The  wise   who   know  the  power  of   zeal 
delight  in  it,  rejoicing  in  the  lot  of  the  noble. 

23.  These  wise  ones  by  meditation  and  reflec- 
tion, by  constant  effort  reach  Nirvana,  highest 
freedom. 

24.  Great    grows    the    glory    of    him    who    is 
zealous  in  meditation,   whose  actions  are  pure 
and  deliberate,  whose  life  is  calm  and  righteous 
and  full  of  vigour. 

25.  By   strenuous  effort,   by   self-control,   by 

24 


REACHING   SUPREMACY  26 

temperance,  let  the  wise  man  make  for  himself 
an  island  which  the  flood  cannot  overwhelm. 

26.  Fools   in   their  folly   give   themselves   to 
sloth  :    the  wise  man  guards  his  vigour  as  his 
greatest  possession. 

27.  Give  not  yourselves  over  to  sloth,  and  to 
dalliance  with  delights  :    he  who  meditates  with 
earnestness  attains  great  joy. 

28.  When  the  wise  one  puts  off  sloth  for  zeal, 
ascending  the  high  tower  of  wisdom  he  gazes 
sorrowless   upon    the    sorrowing    crowd   below ! 
Wise  himself,  he  looks  upon  the  fools  as  one 
upon  a  mountain-peak  gazing  upon  the  dwellers 
in  the  valley. 

29.  Zealous  amidst  the  slothful,  vigilant  among 
the  sleepers,  go  the  prudent,  as  a  racehorse  out- 
strips a  hack. 

30.  By  zeal  did  Sakra  reach  supremacy  among 
the  gods.     Men  praise  zeal ;   but  sloth  is  always 
blamed. 

31.  A  Bhikkhu  who  delights  in  zeal,  looking 
askance   at   sloth,   moves   onwards   like   a   fire, 
burning  the  greater  and  the  lesser  bonds. 

32.  A  Bhikkhu  who  delights  in  zeal,  looking 
askance  at  sloth,  cannot  be  brought  low,  but  is 
near  to  Nirvana.* 

*  Better,  perhaps,  "  in  the  very  presence  of  Nirvana." 


§m 

THE   MIND 

33.  THIS  trembling,  wavering  mind,  so  difficult 
to  guard  and  to  control — this  the  wise  man 
makes  straight  as  the  fletcher  straightens  his 
shaft. 

34.  As   quivers  the   fish   when   thrown   upon 
the  ground,  far  from  his  home  in  the  waters, 
so  the  mind  quivers  as  it  leaves  the  realm  of 
Death. 

35.  Good  it  is  to  tame  the  mind,  so  difficult 
to  control,  fickle,  and  capricious.     Blessed  is  the 
tamed  mind. 

36.  Let   the   wise    man  guard   his   mind,  in- 
comprehensible,   subtle,    and    capricious  though 
it  is.     Blessed  is  the  guarded  mind. 

37.  They    will   escape    the    fetters   of    Death 
who    control    that    far-wandering,    solitary,  in- 
corporeal cave-dweller,  the  mind. 

38.  In  him  who  is  unstable  and  ignorant  of  the 
law  and  capricious  in  his  faith,  wisdom  is  not 
perfected. 

39.  There  is  no  fear  in  him,  the  vigilant  one 


THE    SWORD    OF   WISDOM  27 

whose  mind  is  not  befouled  with  lust,  nor  em- 
bittered with  rage,  who  cares  nought  for  merit 
or  demerit. 

40.  Let  him  who  knows  that  his  body  is  brittle 
as  a  potsherd,  make  his  mind  strong  as  a  fortress  ; 
let  him  smite  Mara  with  the  sword  of  wisdom, 
and  let  him  guard  his  conquest  without  dalliance. 

41.  Soon  will  this  body  lie  upon  the  ground, 
deserted,  and  bereft  of  sense,  like  a  log  cast 
aside. 

42.  Badly  does  an  enemy  treat  his  enemy, 
a  foeman  his  foe  :    worse  is  the  havoc  wrought 
by  a  misdirected  mind. 

43.  Not  mother  and  father,  not  kith  and  kin 
can  so  benefit  a  man  as  a  mind  attentive  to  the 
right. 


§  iv 

FLOWERS 

44.  WHO  shall  conquer  this  world,  and  the 
realm  of  Death  with  its  attendant  gods  ?  Who 
shall  sort  the  verses  of  the  well-preached  Law, 
as  a  clever  weaver  of  garlands  sorts  flowers  ? 

45.  My  disciple  shall  conquer  this  world  and 
Death  with  its  attendant  gods  :    it  is  he  who 
shall  sort  the  verses  of  the  well-preached  Law 
as  a  clever  garland-maker  sorts  flowers. 

46.  Let  him  escape  the  eye  of  Mara,  regarding 
his  body  as  froth,  knowing  it  as  a  mirage,  plucking 
out  the  flowery  shafts  of  Mara. 

47.  He  who  is  busy  culling  pleasures,  as  one 
plucks  flowers,  Death  seizes  and  hurries  off,  as 
a  great  flood  bears  away  a  sleeping  village. 

48.  The  Destroyer  treads  him  underfoot  as  he 
is  culling  worldly  pleasures,  still  unsated  with 
lusts  of  the  flesh. 

49.  As    a    bee    taking    honey    from    flowers, 
without  hurt  to  bloom  or  scent,  so  let  the  sage 
seek  his  food  from  house  to  house. 

50.  Be  not  concerned  with  other  men's  evil 

28 


THE  FRAGRANCE  OF  GOOD  DEEDS  29 

words  or  deeds  or  neglect  of  good  :  look  rather 
to  thine  own  sins  and  negligence  [lit.  "  sins  of 
commission  and  omission "  :  things  done  and 
undone]. 

61.  As  some  bright  flower — fair  to  look  at, 
but  lacking  fragrance — so  are  fair  words  which 
bear  no  fruit  in  action. 

52.  As  some  bright  flower,  fragrant  as  it  is  fair, 
so  are  fair  words  whose  fruit  is  seen  in  action. 

53.  As  if  from  a  pile  of  flowers  one  were  to 
weave   many  a  garland,   so  let  mortals  string 
together  much  merit. 

54.  No  scent  of  flower  is  borne  against  the 
wind,  though  it  were  sandal,  or  incense  or  jasmine  : 
but  the  fragrance  of  the  holy  is  borne  against 
the    wind :     the    righteous    pervade    all    space 
[with  their  fragrance]. 

55.  More  excellent  than  the  scent  of  sandal 
and  incense,  of  lily  and  jasmine,  is  the  fragrance 
of  good  deeds. 

56.  A  slight  thing  is  this  scent  of  incense  and 
of  sandal- wood,  but  the  scent  of  the  holy  pervades 
the  highest  heaven. 

57.  Death  finds  not  the  path  of  the  righteous 
and  strenuous,  who  are  set  free  by  their  perfect 
wisdom. 

58.  59.  As   on    some   roadside    dung-heap,   a 
flower  blooms  fragrant  and  delightful,  so  amongst 
the  refuse  of  blinded  mortals  shines   forth  in 
wisdom  the'follower  of  the  true  Buddha. 


§  v 

THE   FOOL* 

60.  LONG  is  the  night  to  the  watcher,  long  is 
the  league  to  the  weary  traveller  :  long  is  the 
chain  of  existence  to  fools  who  ignore  the  true 
Law. 

61.  If  on  a  journey  thou  canst  not  find   thy 
peer  or  one  better  than  thyself,  make  the.  journey 
stoutly  alone  :   there  is  no  company  with  a  fool. 

62.  "  I   have   sons   and   wealth,"   thinks  the 
fool  with  anxious  care  ;    he  is  not  even  master 
of  himself,  much  less  of  sons  and  wealth. 

63.  The  fool  who  knows  his  folly  is  so  far 
wise  :    but  the  fool  who  reckons  himself  wise 
is  called  a  fool  indeed. 

64.  Though    for    a    lifetime    the    fool    keeps 
company  with  the  wise,  yet  does  he  not  learn 
righteousness,  as  spoon  gets  no  taste  of  soup. 

65.  If  but  for  a  moment  the  thoughtful  keep 
company  with  the  wise,  straightway  he  learns 
righteousness,  as  tongue  tastes  soup. 

66.  Fools  and  dolts  go  their  way,  their  own 

*  cf.  Introduction,  pp.  14,  15. 
30 


EVIL   FRUIT  31 

worst  enemies  :   working  evil  which  bears  bitter 
fruit. 

67.  That  is  no  good  deed  which  brings  remorse, 
whose    reward    one    receives    with    tears    and 
lamentation. 

68.  But  that  is  the  good  deed  which  brings 
no  remorse,  whose  reward  the  doer  takes  with 
joy  and  gladness. 

69.  Honey-sweet  to  the  fool  is  his  sin — until 
it  ripens  :   then  he  comes  to  grief. 

70.  If  once  a  month  the  fool  sips  his  food 
from   a  blade  of    the   sacred  grass — his  is  no 
fraction  of  the  Arahat's  worth. 

71.  Evil    does    not    straightway    curdle    like 
milk,  but  is  rather  like  a  smouldering  fire  which 
attends  the  fool  and  burns  him. 

72.  When  the  fool's  wisdom  bears  evil  fruit 
it  bursts   asunder  his   happiness,   and  smashes 
his  head. 

73.  74.  If  one   desire   the   praise   of   knaves, 
or  leadership  amongst  the  Bhikkhus,  and  lordship 
in  the  convents,  and  the  reverence  of  the  laity, 
thinking  "Let  layman  and  religious  alike  appre- 
ciate my  deeds  ;  let  them  do  my  bidding  and  obey 
my  prohibitions,"  if  such  be  his  fond  imaginings, 
then  will  ambition  and  self-will  wax  great. 

75.  One  is  the  road  leading  to  gain,  another 
is  that  leading  to  Nirvana  :  knowing  this,  let 
the  Bhikkhu,  the  follower  of  Buddha,  strive  in 
solitude,  not  seeking  the  praise  of  men, 


§vi 

THE   WISE   MAN 

76.  LOOK  upon  him  who  shows  you  your  faults 
as  a  revealer  of  treasure  :  seek  his  company 
who  checks  and  chides  you,  the  sage  who  is 
wise  in  reproof  :  it  fares  well  and  not  ill  with 
him  who  seeks  such  company. 

77.  Let    a  man    admonish,  and    advise,   and 
keep  others  from  strife  !     So  will  he  be  dear  to 
the  righteous,  and   hated  by   the   unrighteous. 

78.  Avoid   bad   friends,    avoid   the   company 
of  the  evil :    seek  after  noble  friends  and  men 
of  lofty  character. 

79.  He  who  drinks  in  the  law  lives  glad,  for 
his  mind  is  serene  :   in  the  law  preached  by  the 
Noble  the  sage  ever  finds  his  joy. 

80.  Engineers    control    the    water ;     fletchers 
straighten  the  arrow  ;    carpenters  fashion  their 
wood.     Sages  control  and  fashion  themselves. 

81.  As   some  massive  rock   stands   unmoved 
by  the  storm-wind,  so  the  wise  stand  unmoved 
by  praise  or  blame. 


THE    WAY    OF   THE    LAW  33 

82.  As  a  deep  lake,  clear  and  undefiled,  so 
are  sages  calmed  by  hearing  the  law. 

83.  Freely  go    the   righteous ;    the   holy   ones 
do  not  whine  and  pine  for  lusts  :    unmoved  by 
success  or  failure,  the  wise  show  no  change  of 
mood. 

84.  Desire  not  a  son  for  thyself  nor  for  another, 
nor  riches  nor  a  kingdom  ;    desire  not  thy  gain 
by  another's  loss  :    so  art  thou  righteous,  wise, 
and  good. 

85.  Few  amongst   men   are  they   who   reach 
the  farther  shore  :    the  rest,  a  great  multitude, 
stand  only  on  the  bank. 

86.  The  righteous  followers  of  the  well-preached 
law,  these  are  the  mortals  who  reach  the  far 
shore.     But  hard  is  their  journey  through  the 
realm  of  Death. 

87.  88.  Leaving  the  way  of  darkness,  let  the 
sage  cleave  to  the  way  of  light :    let  him  leave 
home   for   the    homeless   life,    that   solitude    so 
hard    to    love    [Nirvana].     Putting    away    lust 
and   possessing   nothing,    let   the   sage    cleanse 
himself  from  every  evil  thought. 

89.  They  are  serene  in  this  world,  whose 
mind  is  perfected  in  that  clear  thought  which 
leads  to  Arahatship,  whose  delight  is  in  re- 
nunciation, free  from  taints,  and  lustrous. 


§  VII 

THE   AEAHAT 

90.  No  remorse  is  found  in  him  whose  journey 
is  accomplished,  whose  sorrow  ended,  whose  free- 
dom complete,  whose  chains  are  all  shaken  off. 

91.  The    mindful   press    on,    casting   no    look 
behind  to  their  home-life  ;    as  swans  deserting 
a  pool  they  leave  their  dear  home. 

92.  Some   there    are    who    have   no    treasure 
here,  temperate  ones  whose  goal  is  the  freedom 
which  comes  of  realising  that  life  is  empty  and 
impermanent :    their  steps  are  hard  to  track  as 
the  flight  of  birds  through  the  sky. 

93.  He  whose  taints  are  purged  away,   who 
is  indifferent  to  food,  whose  goal  is  the  freedom 
which   comes   of  realising  life's   emptiness   and 
transciency,   is   hard  to   track   as  the   flight  of 
birds  in  the  sky. 

94.  Even  the  gods  emulate  him  whose  senses 
are  quiet  as  horses  well-tamed  by  the  charioteer, 
who  has  renounced  self-will,  and  put  away  all 
taints. 

95.  No  more  will  he  be  born  whose  patience 

34 


PLACES    OF   DELIGHT  35 

is  as  the  earth's,  who  is  firm  as  a  pillar  and 
pious,  pure  as  some  unruffled  lake. 

96.  Calm    is    the    thought,    calm    the    words 
and  deeds  of  such  a  one,  who  has  by  wisdom 
attained  true  freedom  and  self-control. 

97.  Excellent  is  the  man  who  is  not  credulous, 
who   knows   Nirvana,   who   has   cut   all  bonds, 
destroyed  the  germs  of  rebirth,  cast  off  lust. 

98.  In  the  village  or  the  jungle,  on  sea  or 
land,   wherever  lives  the    Arahat,  there   is  the 
place  of  delight. 

99.  Pleasant  are  the  glades  where  the  herd 
come  not  to  disport  themselves  :   there  shall  the 
Holy  take  their  pleasure,  who  seek  not  after  lust. 


§  VIII 

THE   THOUSANDS 

100.  BETTER  than  a  thousand  empty  words  is 
one  pregnant  word,  which  brings  the  hearer 
peace. 

101.  Better  than  a  thousand  idle  songs  is  a 
single  song,  which  brings  the  hearer  peace. 

102.  Better  it  is  to  chant  one  verse  of  the 
law,  that  brings  the  hearer  peace,  than  to  chant 
a  hundred  empty  songs. 

103.  If    one    were    to    conquer    a    thousand 
thousand  in  the  battle — he  who  conquers  self 
is  the  greatest  warrior. 

104, 105.  Self-conquest  is  better  than  other 
victories :  neither  god  nor  demi-god,  neither 
Mara  nor  Brahma,  can  undo  the  victory  of  such 
a  one,  who  is  self -controlled  and  always  calm. 

106.  If  month  by  month  throughout  a  hundred 
years  one  were  to  offer  sacrifices  costing  thou- 
sands,  and  if  for  a  moment  another  were  to 
reverence  the  self-controlled — this  is  the  better 
worship. 

107.  If  one  for  a  hundred  years  tended  the 

36 


THE    BETTER    PART  37 

sacred  fire  in  the  glade,  and  another  for  a  moment 
reverenced  the  self-con  trolled,  this  is  the  better 
worship. 

108.  Whatsoever  sacrifice  or  offering  a  man 
makes  for  a  full  year  in  hope  of  benefits,  all 
is  not  worth  a  quarter  of  that  better  offering — 
reverence  to  the  upright. 

109.  In  him  who  is  trained  in  constant  courtesy 
and  reverence  to  the  old,  four  qualities  increase  : 
length  of  days,  beauty,  gladness,  and  strength. 

110.  Better  than  a  hundred  years  of  impure 
and  intemperate  existence   is   a   single   day  of 
moral,  contemplative  life. 

111.  Better  is  one  day  of  wise  and  contem- 
plative life  than  a  thousand  years  of  folly  and 
intemperance. 

112.  Better  one  day  of  earnest  energy  than 
a  hundred  years  of  sloth  and  lassitude. 

113.  Better  one  day  of  insight  into  the  fleeting 
nature  of  the  things  of  sense,  than  a  hundred 
years  of  blindness  to  this  transiency. 

114.  Better  one  day  of  insight  into  the  deathless 
state  [Nirvana],  than  a  hundred  years  of  blindness 
to  this  immortality. 

115.  Better  one  day  of  insight  into  the  Supreme 
Law,    than    a    hundred   years    of   blindness    to 
that  Law. 


VICE 

116.  CLING  to  what  is  right :  so  will  you  keep 
the  mind  from  wrong.  Whoso  is  slack  in  well- 
doing comes  to  rejoice  in  evil. 

117.  If  one   offends,  let   him  not   repeat  his 
offence  ;   let  him  not  set  his  heart  upon  it.     Sad 
is  the  piling  up  of  sin. 

118.  If  one  does  well,  let  him  repeat  his  well- 
doing :    let  him  set  his  heart  upon  it.     Glad  is 
the  storing  up  of  good. 

119.  The  bad  man  sees  good  days,  until  his 
wrong-doing  ripens  ;    then  he  beholds  evil  days. 

120.  Even   a   good   man   may   see   evil   days 
till  his  well-doing  comes  to  fruition  ;    then  he 
beholds  good  days. 

121.  Think  not  lightly  of  evil   "It  will  not 
come  nigh  me."     Drop  by  drop  the  pitcher  is 
filled  :    slowly  yet  surely  the  fool  is  saturated 
with  evil. 

122.  Think  not  lightly  of  good  "It  will  not 
come  nigh  me."     Drop  by  drop  the  pitcher  is 


DEEDS    MAKE   DESTINY  39 

filled  :   slowly  yet  surely  the  good  are  filled  with 
merit. 

123.  A  trader  whose  pack  is  great  and  whose 
caravan   is   small  shuns   a   dangerous   road  ;    a 
man  who  loves  his  life  shuns  poison  :    so  do 
thou  shun  evil. 

124.  He  who  has  no  wound  can  handle  poison  : 
the  unwounded  hand  cannot  absorb  it.     There 
is  no  evil  to  him  that  does  no  evil. 

125.  Whoso    is    offended    by    the    inoffensive 
man,  and   whoso  blames  an   innocent  man,  his 
evil  returns  upon  him  as  fine  dust  thrown  against 
the  wind. 

126.  Some  go  to  the  womb  ;   some,  evil-doers, 
to  hell ;    the  good  go  to  heaven  ;   the  sinless  to 
Nirvana. 

127.  Not  in  the  sky,  nor  in  mid-ocean,  nor 
in   mountain-cave  can  one  find  sanctuary  from 
his  sins. 

128.  Not  in  the  sky,  not  in  mid-ocean,  not 
in  mountain-cave  can  one  find  release  from  the 
conquering  might  of  death. 


PUNISHMENT 

129.  ALL  fear  the  rod,  all  quake  at  death.  Judge 
then  by  thyself,  and  forbear  from  slaughter,  or 
from  causing  to  slay. 

130.  To  all  is  life  dear.     Judge  then  by  thyself, 
and  forbear  to  slay  or  to  cause  slaughter. 

131.  Whoso    himself    desires    joy,    yet    hurts 
them  who  love  joy,  shall  not  obtain  it  hereafter. 

132.  Whoso    himself    desires    joy    and    hurts 
not  them  who  love  it,  shall  hereafter  attain  to 

i°y- 

133.  Speak  not  harshly  to  any  one  :  else  will 
men   turn   upon    you.     Sad   are   the    words   of 
strife  :    retribution  will  follow  them. 

134.  Be   silent    as    a    broken   gong :     so    wilt 
thou  reach  peace  ;  for  strife  is  not  found  in  thee. 

135.  As   the   herdsman   drives   out   his   cows 
to  the  pasture,  so  Old  Age  and  Death  drive  out 
the  life  of  men. 

136.  Verily  the  fool  sins  and  knows  it  not : 
by  his  own  deeds  is  the  fool  tormented  as  by  fire. 

137.  He    who   strikes   those    who    strike   not 

40 


EVIL    RETURNS    TO    EVIL  41 

and  are  innocent  will  come  speedily  to  one  of 
these  ten  states  : 

138.  To  cruel  torment,  loss,  accident,  severe 
illness,  and  madness  he  will  come  : 

139.  To   visitation   from   the   King,   grievous 
slander,  loss  of  kith  and  kin,  and  perishing  of 
his  wealth  he  will  come : 

140.  Ravaging   fire    will   destroy    his   houses, 
and  after  death  the  poor  wretch  will  go  to  hell. 

141.  Not    nakedness,    nor    matted    hair,    not 
dirt,  nor  fastings,  not  sleeping  in  sanctuaries, 
nor  ashes,  nor  ascetic   posture — none  of  these 
things  purifies  a  man  who  is  not  free  from  doubt. 

142.  If  even  a  fop  fosters  the  serene  mind, 
calm  and  controlled,  pious  and  pure,  and  does 
no  hurt  to  any  living  thing,  he  is  the  Brahmin 
he  is  the  Samana,  he  is  the  Bhikkhu. 

143.  Is  there  in  all  the  world  a  man  so  modest 
that  he  provokes  no  blame,  as  a  noble  steed 
never   deserves   the   whip  ?     As   a  noble   steed 
stung  by  the  whip,  be  ye  spirited  and  swift. 

144.  By  faith,  by  righteousness,  by  manliness, 
by  meditation,  by  just  judgment,  by  theory  and 
practice,  by  mindfulness,  leave  aside  sorrow — no 
slight  burden. 

145.  Engineers    control    the    water,    fletchers 
fashion  their  shafts,  carpenters  shape  the  wood  : 
it   is   themselves   that   the   pious   fashion    and 
control. 


§xi 

OLD   AGE 

146.  WHERE  is  the  joy,  what  the  pleasure,  whilst 
all  is  in  flames  ?  Benighted,  would  ye  not  seek 
a  torch  ? 

147.  Look   at    this   painted   image,    wounded 
and  swollen,  sickly  and  full  of  lust,  in  which 
there  is  no  permanence  ; 

148.  This   wasted  form  is   a  nest  of   disease 
and  very  frail :    it  is  full  of  putrid  matter  and 
perishes.     Death  is  the  end  of  life. 

149.  What  delight  is  there  for  him  who  sees 
these  grey  bones  scattered  like  gourds  in  autumn  ? 

150.  Here  is  a  citadel  of  bones  plastered  with 
flesh  and  blood,  and  manned  by  old  age  and 
death,  self-will  and  enmity. 

151.  As  even  the  king's  bright  chariot  grows 
old,  so  the  body  of  man   also  comes  to  old  age. 
But  the  law  of  the  holy  never  ages  :    the  holy 
teach  it  to  the  holy. 

152.  The    simpleton    ages    like    the    ox :     his 
weight  increases,  but  not  his  wisdom. 

153.  Many   births   have   I   traversed   seeking 

42 


BROKEN    THY   HOUSE    LIES         43 

the  builder  ;    in  vain  !     Weary  is  the  round  of 
births. 

154.  Now  art  thou  seen,  0  Builder.     Never- 
more   shalt    thou    build    the    house  !     All    thy 
beams  are  broken  ;  cast  down  is  thy  cornerstone. 
My  mind  is  set  upon  Nirvana  ;   it  has    attained 
the  extinction  of  desire. 

155.  They    who    have   not   lived    purely   nor 
stored  up  riches  in  their  youth,  these  ruefully 
ponder,  as  old  herons  by  a  lake  without  fish. 

156.  They    who    have   not   lived   purely   nor 
stored  up  riches  in  their  youth,  are  as  arrows 
that  are  shot  in  vain  :   they  mourn  for  the  past. 


§  XII 

SELF 

157.  IF  a  man  love  himself,  let  him  diligently 
watch  himself  :  the  wise  will  keep  vigil  for  one 
of  the  three  watches  of  the  night. 

158.  Keep  first  thyself  aright :    then  mayest 
thou  advise  others.     So  is  the  wise   man   un- 
blameable. 

159.  If  one  so  shapes  his  own  life  as  he  directs 
others,  himself  controlled,  he  will  duly  control 
others  :   self,  they  say,  is  hard  to  tame. 

160.  A  man  is  his  own  helper  :    who  else  is 
there  to  help  ?     By  self-control  man  is  a  rare 
help  to  himself. 

161.  The  ill  that  is  begun  and  has  its  growth 
and  its  being  in  self,  bruises  the  foolish  one,  as 
the  diamond  pierces  its  own  matrix. 

162.  As  the  creeper  overpowers  the  tree,  so 
he  whose  sin  is  great,  works  for  himself  the  havoc 
his  enemy  would  wish  for  him. 

163.  Ill  is  easy  to  do  ;   it  is  easy  to  do  harm  : 
hard  indeed  it  is  to  do  helpful  and  good  deeds. 

164.  Whoso    fondly    repudiates    the    teaching 

44 


RESOLVE    TO    BE    THYSELF          45 

of  the  noble  and  virtuous  Arahats,  following 
false  doctrine,  is  like  the  bamboo  which  bears 
fruit  to  its  own  destruction. 

165.  Thou  art  brought  low  by  the  evil  thou 
hast  done  thyself  :    by  the  evil  thou  hast  left 
undone  art  thou  purified.     Purity  and  impurity 
are  things  of  man's  inmost  self  ;    no  man  can 
purify  another. 

166.  Even  for  great  benefit  to  another  let  no 
man    imperil    his    own    benefit.     When    he    has 
realised  what  is  for  his  own  good,  let  him  pursue 
that  earnestly. 


§  XIII 

THE  WORLD 

167.  LET  no  man  foster  evil  habits  ;  let  no  man 
live  in  sloth  :  let  none  follow  false  doctrines, 
none  prolong  his  sojourn  in  this  world. 

168.  Up  !  Idle   not,    but    follow    after   good. 
The  good  man  lives  happy  in  this  world  and 
the  next. 

169.  Follow  after  virtue,  not  after  vice.     The 
virtuous  live  happy  in  this  world  and  the  next. 

170.  The  king  of  Death  sees  not   him   who 
regards  the  world  as  a  bubble,  a  mirage. 

171.  Come  then,  think  of  the  world  as  a  painted 
chariot  of  the  king — a  morass  where  fools  are 
sinking,  where  the  wise  take  no  pleasure. 

172.  He   who   in   former   days    was   slothful, 
and  has  put  off  sloth,  lights  up  the  world  as  the 
moon  freed  of  the  clouds. 

173.  He  who  covers  his  idle  deeds  with  goodness 
lights  up  the  world  as  the  moon  freed  of  clouds. 

174.  Blinded  are  the  men  of  this  world  ;   few 
there  are  who  have  eyes  to  see  :    few  are  the 

46 


THE    FRUIT    OF   CONVERSION       47 

birds  which  escape  the  fowler's  net ;    few  are 
they  who  go  to  heaven. 

175.  Through  the  sky  fly  the  swans  :  Rishis 
too  pass  through  the  air.     The  wise  leave  the 
world  altogether,  deserting  Mara  and  his  hosts. 

176.  There  is  no  wrong  he  would  not  do  who 
breaks  one  precept,  speaking  lies  and  mocking 
at  the  life  to  come. 

177.  Misers   go   not   to   the   realm   of   gods  : 
therefore  he  is  a  fool  who  does  not  delight  in 
liberality.     The  wise  delighting  in  liberality  come 
thereby  with  gladness  to  the  other  world. 

178.  Good  is  kingship  of  the  earth  ;    good  is 
birth    in    heaven  ;     good    is    universal    empire ; 
better  still  is  the  fruit  of  conversion. 


§  XIV 

THE  BUDDHA 

179.  INTO  his  victory  which  is  never  reversed 
there  enters  no  element  of  weakness  :  through 
what  fault  can  you  lead  captive  the  faultless 
one,  the  Buddha  whose  sphere  is  Nirvana  ? 

180.  By  what  fault  will  you  lead  captive  the 
faultless    Buddha,    whose    sphere    is    Nirvana  ? 
In  him  are  no  clinging  meshes  of  desire  to  lead 
him  captive. 

181.  The  gods  themselves  emulate  the  truly 
wise  and  mindful,  who  are  busy  in  meditation 
and  prudent,  delighting  in  the  peace  of  Nirvana. 

182.  Arduous    is    human    birth :     arduous    is 
mortal  life  :    arduous  is  hearing  of  the  Law  : 
arduous  the  uprising  of  Buddhas. 

183.  "  Eschew  all  evil :  cherish  good  :   cleanse 
your  inmost  thoughts  " — this  is  the  teaching  of 
Buddhas. 

184.  "  Patience  and  fortitude  is  the  supreme 
asceticism :     Nirvana    is    above    all,"    say    the 
Buddhas.     He  is  no  recluse  who  harms  others  : 
nor  is  he  who  causes  grief  an  ascetic  [samana]. 

48 


THE    SUPREME    SANCTUARY          49 

185.  Hurt  none  by  word  or  deed,  be  consistent 
in  well-doing  :    be  moderate  in  food,   dwell  in 
solitude,  and  give  yourselves  to  meditation — this 
is  the  advice  of  Buddhas. 

186.  Not  by  a  shower  of  gold  is  satisfaction 
of  the  senses  found:     "little  pleasure,  lasting 
pain,"  so  thinks  the  sage. 

187.  The  follower  of  the  true  Buddha  finds  no 
delight  even  in  divine  pleasures  :  but  his  joy  is 
in  the  destruction  of  desire  [tanha]. 

188.  Often  do  men  in  terror  seek  sanctuary  in 
mountains  or  jungles,  by  sacred  groves  or  trees  ; 

189.  In  them  is  no  safe  sanctuary  ;   in  them  is 
not   the   supreme   sanctuary ;     in   them   is   not 
that  sanctuary  whither  a  man  may  go  and  cast 
aside  his  cares. 

190.  But  he  who  goes  for  sanctuary  to  the 
Buddha,  the  Dhamma,  and    the    Sangha  looks 
in  his  wisdom  for  the  four  noble  truths : 

191.  "  Sorrow,    the    arising    of    sorrow,    the 
cessation   of   sorrow,    and    the   noble   eightfold 
path  which  leads  to  their  cessation." 

192.  Here  truly  is  the  gure  sanctuary  :    here 
is  the  supreme  sanctuary  :   here  is  the  sanctuary 
where  a  man  may  go  and  cast  aside  his  care. 

193.  Hard  to  find  is  the  Exalted  One  :    he  is 
not    born    in    every    place  :     happy    dwells    the 
household  into  which  he,  the  wise  one,  is  born  : 

194.  A  blessing  is  the  arising  of  Buddhas,  a 
blessing  is  the  true  preaching.     Blessed  is  the 

4 


60  THE    BUDDHA 

unity  of  the  Sangha,  blessed  is  the  devotion  of 
those  who  dwell  in  unity. 

195,  196.  Immeasurable  is  the  merit  of  him 
who  does  reverence  to  those  to  whom  reverence 
is  due,  Buddha  and  his  disciples,  men  who 
have  left  behind  them  the  trammels  of  evil, 
and  crossed  beyond  the  stream  of  sorrow  and 
wailing,  calmed  and  free  of  all  fear. 


§xv 

BLISS 

197.  0  JOY  !  We  live  in  bliss  ;  amongst  men 
of  hate,  hating  none.  Let  us  indeed  dwell  among 
them  without  hatred. 

198.  0    Joy!     In    bliss    we    dwell;     healthy 
amidst  the  ailing.     Let  us  indeed  dwell  amongst 
them  in  perfect  health. 

199.  Yea  in  very  bliss  we  dwell :    free  from 
care  amidst  the  careworn.     Let  us  indeed  dwell 
amongst  them  without  care. 

200.  In    bliss    we    dwell    possessing   nothing : 
let  us  dwell  feeding  upon  joy  like  the  shining 
ones  in  their  splendour. 

201.  The  victor  breeds  enmity  ;  the  conquered 
sleeps  in  sorrow.     Regardless  of  either  victory 
or  defeat  the  calm  man  dwells  in  peace. 

202.  There  is  no  fire  like  lust ;  no  luck  so  bad 
as    hate.     There   is   no    sorrow   like   existence : 
no  bliss  greater  than  Nirvana  [rest]. 

203.  Hunger  is  the  greatest  ill :    existence  is 
the   greatest   sorrow.     Sure   knowledge    of   this 
is  Nirvana,  highest  bliss. 

51 


52  BLISS 

204.  Health  is  the  greatest  boon  ;    content  is 
the  greatest  wealth  ;    a  loyal  friend  is  the  truest 
kinsman  ;    Nirvana  is  the  Supreme  Bliss. 

205.  Having   tasted  the  joy  of  solitude   and 
of  serenity,  a  man  is  freed  from  sorrow  and  from 
sin,  and  tastes  the  nectar  of  piety. 

206.  Good  is  the  vision  of  the  Noble  ;    good 
is   their  company.     He   may   be   always   happy 
who  escapes  the  sight  of  fools. 

207.  He  who  consorts  with  fools  knows  lasting 
grief.     Grievous  is  the  company  of  fools,  as  that 
of  enemies  ;    glad  is  the  company  of  the  wise, 
as  that  of  kinsfolk. 

208.  Therefore  do  thou  consort  with  the  wise, 
the  sage,  the  learned,  the  noble  ones  who  shun 
not  the  yoke  of  duty  :    follow  in  the  wake  of 
such  a  one,  the  wise  and  prudent,  as  the  moon 
follows  the  path  of  the  stars. 


§  XVI 

AFFECTION 

209.  HE  who  gives  himself  to  vanity  and  not 
to  the  truly  profitable,  shunning  the  true  pursuit, 
and  grasping  at  pleasure,  will  come  to  envy  him 
who  has  sought  the  true  profit. 

210.  Let  no  man  cleave  to  what  is  pleasant 
or  unpleasant :  parting  with  the  pleasant  is  pain, 
and  painful  is  the  presence  of  the  unpleasant. 

211.  Take   a  liking  to  nothing  ;    loss  of  the 
prize  is  evil.     There  are  no  bonds  for  him  who 
has  neither  likes  nor  dislikes. 

212.  From    attachment     comes    grief,     from 
attachment  comes  fear.     He  who  is  pure  from 
attachment  knows  neither  grief  nor  fear. 

213.  From    affection     come    grief     and    fear. 
He  who  is  without  affection  knows  neither  grief 
nor  fear. 

214.  From    pleasure    come     grief     and    fear. 
He  who  is  freed  from  pleasure  knows  neither 
grief  nor  fear. 

215.  From* lust  come  grief  and  fear.     He  who 
is  freed  from  lust 'knows  neither  grief  nor  fear, 

53 


54  AFFECTION 

216.  From    desire  come  grief  and  fear.     He 
who  is  free  of  desire  knows  neither  grief  nor  fear. 

217.  The    man    of    counsel    and    insight,    of 
righteousness   and  truth,   who   minds    his  own 
affairs,  him  the  crowd  holds  dear. 

218.  If  a  man's   heart  be  set  upon  the   In- 
effable   [Nirvana],    his    mind    brought    to    per- 
fection, and  every  thought  freed  from  lust,  he 
is  called  the  strong  swimmer  who  forges  his  way 
against  the  stream. 

219.  When,    after    long    voyaging    afar,    one 
returns   in   safety    home,    kinsfolk   and   friends 
receive  him  gladly  ; 

220.  Even  so  his  good  deeds  receive  the  good 
man,  when  he  leaves  this  world  for   the  next, 
as  kinsfolk  greet  a  dear  traveller. 


§  XVII 

ANGER 

221.  PUT  away  anger,  eschew  self-will,  conquer 
every  bond  ;  no  suffering  touches  him  who  does 
not  cling  to  phenomenal  existence,  but  calls 
nothing  his  own. 

222.  Whoso    controls    his    rising    anger   as    a 
running  chariot,  him  I  call  the  charioteer  :    the 
others  only  hold  the  reins. 

223.  By  calmness  let  a  man  overcome  wrath ; 
let  him  overcome  evil  by  good  ;    the  miser  let 
him  subdue  by  liberality,  and  the  liar  by  truth. 

224.  Speak  the  truth,  be  not  angry,  give  of 
thy  poverty  to  the  suppliant :    by  these  three 
virtues  a  man  attains  to  the  company  of  the  gods. 

225.  The   innocent,    the    sages,  those    whose 
action  is  controlled,  these  go  to  the  eternal  state 
where  they  know  not  sorrow  [Nirvana]. 

226.  All  taints  pass  away  from  them  who  are 
ever  vigilant  and  active  day  and  night,   with 
faces  set  towards  Nirvana. 

227.  This  is  an  ancient  law,  O  Atula,  not  the 
law  of  a  day  :    men  blame  the  silent  and  they 

55 


56  ANGER 

blame  the  talker  ;  even  the  man  of  few  words 
they  blame.  No  one  in  the  world  gets  off 
unblamed. 

228.  There   never   was,   nor   will   be,    nor   is 
there  now  to  be  found,  one  wholly  blamed  or 
wholly  praised. 

229,  230.     But  who  is  worthy  to  blame  him 
whom  the  wise  praise  after  daily  scrutiny,  who 
is  himself  wise  and  without  blemish  as  a  medal 
of  purest  gold  ?     Even  the  gods  seek  to  emulate 
such  a  one  ;  even  Brahma  praises  him. 

231.  Guard  against   evil   deeds  :     control   the 
body.     Eschew  evil  deeds  and  do  good. 

232.  Guard  against  evil  words  ;    control  the 
tongue.     Eschew  evil  words  and  speak  good  ones. 

233.  Guard    against    evil    thoughts ;     control 
the    mind.     Eschew    evil    thoughts    and    think 
good  ones. 

234.  The  wise,  controlled  in  act,  in  word,  in 
thought,  are  well  controlled  indeed. 


§  XVIII 

SIN 

235.  THOU  art  withered  as  a  sere  leaf  :  Death's 
messengers  await  thee.  Thou  standest  at  the 
gate  of  death,  and  hast  made  no  provision  for 
the  journey. 

236.  Make  to  thyself  a  refuge  ;    come,  strive 
and  be  prudent  :  when  thy  impurities  are  purged, 
thou  shalt  come  into  the  heavenly  abode  of  the 
Noble. 

237.  Thy  life  is  ended  ;    thou  art  come  into 
the    Presence   of   Death :     there   is   no    resting- 
place  by  the  way,  and  thou  hast  no  provision 
for  the  journey. 

238.  Make  for  thyself  a  refuge  ;    come,  strive 
and  play  the  sage  !     Burn  off  thy  taints,  and  thou 
shalt  know  birth  and  old  age  no  more. 

239.  As   a   smith   purifies   silver  in   the   fire, 
so  bit  by  bit  continually  the  sage  burns  away 
his  impurities. 

240.  It  is  the  iron's  own  rust  that  destroys 
it :   it  is  the  sinner's  own  acts  that  bring  him 
to  hell. 

57 


68  IMPURITY 

241.  Disuse  is  the  rust  of  mantras  ;    laziness 
the  rust  of  households  ;    sloth  is  the  rust  of 
beauty  ;    neglect  is  the  watcher's  ruin. 

242.  Impurity   is   the   ruin   of   woman  ;     and 
avarice  the  ruin  of  the  giver  :    ill-deeds  are  the 
rust  of  this  world  and  the  next. 

243.  More  corrosive  than  those  is  the  rust  of 
ignorance,  the  greatest  of  taints  :    put  off  this 
rust  and  be  clean,  0  Bhikkhus. 

244.  Life  is  easy  for  the  crafty  and  shameless, 
for  the  wanton,  shrewd,  and  impure  : 

245.  Hard  it  is  for  the  modest,  the  lover  of 
purity,  the  disinterested  and  simple  and  clean, 
the  man  of  insight. 

246.  247.  The  murderer,   the  liar,  the  thief, 
the  adulterer,  and  the  drunkard — these  even  in 
this  world  uproot  themselves. 

248.  Know   this,     0    man,    evil   is    the    un- 
disciplined  mind !     See   to    it   that   greed   and 
lawlessness  bring  not  upon  thee  long  suffering. 

249.  Men  give  according  to  faith  or  caprice. 
If  a  man  fret  because  food  and  drink  are  given 
to  another,  he  comes  not  day  or  night  to  serene 
meditation  [i.e.  Samadhi]. 

250.  He    in    whom    this    [envious    spirit]    is 
destroyed  and  wholly  uprooted,   he  truly  day 
and  night  attains  serene  meditation. 

251.  There  is  no  fire  like  lust,  no  ravenous 
beast  like  hatred,  no  snare  like  folly,  no  flood 
like  desire. 


THE   CENSORIOUS    ONE  59 

252.  To  see  another's  fault  is  easy  :    to  see 
one's  own  is  hard.     Men  winnow  the  faults  of 
others  like   chaff :    their  own  they   hide   as   a 
crafty  gambler  hides  a  losing  throw. 

253.  The  taints  of  this  man  are  ever  growing. 
He  is  far  from  the  purification  of  taints  [Arahat- 
ship],  the  censorious  one  who  is  ever  blaming 
others. 

254.  There  is  no  path  through  the  sky  :   there 
is  no    "  religious "  apart  from  us.     The  world 
without  delights  in  dalliance  :  the  Blessed  Ones 
are  freed  from  this  thrall. 

255.  There  is  no  path  through  the  sky  ;   there 
is  no   "  religious  "  apart  from  us.     Nothing  in 
the  phenomenal  world  is  lasting  ;    but  Buddhas 
endure  immovable. 


§XIX 

THE   BIGHTEOUS 

256,  257.  HASTY  judgment  shows  no  man  just. 
He  is  called  just  who  discriminates  between 
right  and  wrong,  who  judges  others  not  hastily, 
but  with  righteous  and  calm  judgment,  a  wise 
guardian  of  the  law. 

258.  Neither  is  a  man  wise  by  much  speaking  : 
he  is  called  wise  who  is  forgiving,  kindly,  and 
fearless. 

259.  A  man  is  not  a  pillar  of  the  law  for  his 
much  speaking  :    he  who  has  heard  only  part 
of  the  law  and  keeps  it  indeed,  he  is  a  pillar  of 
the  law  and  does  not  slight  it. 

260.  No  man  is  made  an  "  elder  "  by  his  grey 
locks  :    mere  old  age  is  called  empty  old  age. 

261.  He   is    called    "elder"    in    whom    dwell 
truth  and  righteousness,  harmlessness  and  self- 
control  and  self-mastery,  who  is  without  taint 
and  wise. 

262.  Not  by  mere  eloquence  or  comeliness  is 
a  man  a  "  gentleman,"  who  is  lustful,  a  miser, 
and  a  knave. 

60 


THE    TRUE    SAGE  61 

263.  But  he  in  whom  these  faults  are  uprooted 
and  done  away,  the  wise  and  pure  is  called  a 
gentleman. 

264.  Not  by  his  shaven  crown  is  one  made  a 
"  religious  "  who  is  intemperate  and  dishonour- 
able.    How  can   he   be  a    "religious"   who   is 
full  of  lust  and  greed  ? 

265.  He  who  puts  off  entirely  great  sins  and 
small  faults — by   such  true  religion  is   a   man 
called  "religious." 

266.  Not  merely  by  the  mendicant  life  is  a 
man  known  as  a  mendicant  :  he  is  not  a  mendicant 
because  he  follows  the  law  of  the  flesh  ; 

267.  But  because,  being  above  good  and  evil, 
he  leads  a  pure  life  and  goes  circumspectly. 

268.  269.  Not  by  silence  [mona]  is  a  man  a 
sage  [muni]  if  he  be  ignorant  and  foolish  :    he 
who  holds  as  it  were  the  balance,  taking  the 
good  and  rejecting  the  bad,  he  is  the  sage  :    he 
who  is  sage  for  both  worlds,  he  is  the  true  sage. 

270.  A  man  is  no  warrior  who  worries  living 
things  :  by  not  worrying  is  a  man  called  warrior. 

271,  272.  Not  only   by   discipline   and  vows, 
not  only  by  much  learning,  nor  by  meditation 
nor  by  solitude  have  I  won  to  that  peace  which 
no    worldling    knows.     Rest    not    content    with 
these,  O  Bhikkhus,  until  you  have  reached  the 
destruction  of  all  taints. 


§  xx 

THE  PATH 

HAPPINESS  is  for  Gautama,  as  for  Aristotle,  "  the 
bloom  upon  virtue."  The  path  which  leads  to 
the  Supreme  Bliss  is  the  path  of  morality  defined 
as  the  Noble  Eightfold  Path.  If  a  man  follow 
this,  he  is  happy  here  and  hereafter. 
It  consists  of  : 

Right  Views, 
Right  Aspirations, 
Right  Speech, 
Right  Action, 
Right  Livelihood, 
Right  Effort, 
Right  Mindfulness, 
Right  Contemplation. 

This  is  described  by  Gautama  as  a  Middle  Path 
between  the  extreme  of  sensuality  on  the  one 
hand  and  asceticism  on  the  other  ;  or  between 
superstitious  credulity  and  sceptical  materialism. 
It  is  a  truly  noble  ideal  :  yet  one  must  never 
forget  that  "  Righteousness "  throughout  is 
Buddhistically  denned  :  e.g.  "  Right  Views " 

62 


IMPERMANENCE,  SORROW,  UNREALITY  63 

means  a  correct  grasp  of  the  Buddhist  teaching 
that  all  is  transient,  all  is  sorrowful,  all  is  unreal. 
Again,  "  Right  Contemplation  "  is  the  practice 
of  Samadhi,  concentration  of  the  mind  upon 
Buddhist  ideas,  such  as  the  above.  The  highest 
"Livelihood,"  again,  is  to  live  upon  the  alms  of 
the  faithful. 

273.  Best  of  paths  is  the  Eightfold  ;   the  four 
truths  are  the  best  of  truths  :   purity  is  the  best 
state  ;    best  of  men  is  the  seer. 

274.  This  is  the  way  ;    there  is  none  other 
that  leads  to  the  seeing  of  Purity  [Nirvana.] 
Do  you   follow  this  path  :    that  is   to    befool 
Mara. 

275.  Travelling  by  this  way  you'll  end  your 
grief  :    it  is  the  way  I  preached  when  I  learnt 
to  throw  off  my  bonds. 

276.  'Tis  you  who  must  strive  :    the  Blessed 
Ones  are  only  preachers.     They  who  strive  and 
meditate  are  freed  from  Mara's  bonds. 

277.  "All  is  passing  "  :    when  one  sees  and 
realises  this,  he  sits  loose  to  this  world  of  sorrow  : 
this  is  the  way  of  purity. 

278.  "  All  is  sorrow  "  :    when  one  sees  and 
realises  this,  he  sits  loose  to  this  world  of  sorrow : 
this  is  the  way  of  purity. 

279.  "All  is  unreal "  :    when   one  sees    and 
realises  this,  he  sits  loose  to  this  world  of  sorrow  { 
this  is  the  way  of  purity. 


64  THE    PATH 

280.  He  who  fails  to  strive  when  'tis  time  to 
strive,  young  and  strong  though  he  be,  slothful 
and  enmeshed  in  lust,  the  sluggard,  never  finds 
the  path  to  wisdom. 

281.  Whoso   guards   his  tongue   and   controls 
his    mind    and    does   nothing  -wrong  :     keeping 
clear  these  three  paths,  he  will  achieve  the  way 
shown  by  the  wise. 

282.  From  meditation  springs  wisdom  ;    from 
neglect  of  it  the  loss  of  wisdom.     Knowing  this 
path  of  progress   and  decline,  choose  the   way 
that  leads  to  growth  of  wisdom. 

283.  Cut    down    the    jungle  (I  do  not    mean 
with   an    axe!).     For   from   the    jungle  of    lust 
springs  fear,  and  if  you  cut  it  down,,  you  will 
be  disentangled,  0  Bhikkhus  ! 

284.  Whilst  the  entanglement  of  a  man  with 
a  woman  is  not  utterly  cut  away,  he  is  in  bondage, 
running  to  her  as  a  sucking  calf  to  the  cow. 

285.  Pluck  out  the  bond  of  self  as  one  pulls 
up  an  autumn  lotus.     Forge  thy  way  along  the 
path  of  safety,  Nirvana,  shown  by  the  Blessed. 

286.  "  Here  will  I  pass  the  wet  season  ;    here 
the    winter     and    summer,"    thinks    the     fool, 
unmindful  of  what  may  befall. 

287.  Then  comes  Death  and  sweeps  him  away 
infatuated    with  children   and  cattle,   and  en- 
tangled with  this  world's  goods,  as  a  flood  carries 
off  a  sleeping  village. 

288.  There  is  no  safety  in  sons,  or  in  father, 


TOWARDS    NIRVANA  65 

or  in  kinsfolk  when  Death  overshadows  thee  : 
amongst  thine  own  kith  and  kin  is  no  refuge  : 

289.  Knowing  this  clearly,  the  wise  and 
righteous  man  straightway  clears  the  road  that 
leads  to  Nirvana. 


§XXI 

MISCELLANY 

290.  IP  at  the  cost  of  a  little  joy  one  sees  great 
joy,  he  who  is  wise  will  look  to  the  greater  and 
leave  the  less. 

291.  Whoso  seeks  his  own  pleasure  by  another's 
pain,  is  entangled  in  hate  and  cannot  get  free. 

292.  Duty  neglected  ;    evil  done  :    the  taints 
of  the  proud  and  slothful  wax  ever  more  and 
more. 

293.  But  those  who  are  ever  pondering  the 
nature  of  the  body,  who  run  not  after  evil,  who 
are  constant  in  duty — in  these,  the  vigilant  and 
wise,  taints  come  utterly  to  an  end. 

294.  Having    destroyed    Mother    and    Father 
and  two  noble  Kings,  with  the  whole  Kingdom 
and  its  Vizier,  innocent  goes  the  Brahmin  ! 

295.  Innocent  goes  the  Brahmin  having  de- 
stroyed Mother  and  Father  and  two   Brahmin 
Kings,    and   the    five    Roads    and   their    fierce 
guardians. 

296.  The  followers  of  Gautama  are  ever  vigilant ; 
their  thought  day  and  night  is  set  upon  Buddha . 

66 


THE    LIFELONG   VIGIL  67 

297-301.  The  followers  of  Gautama  are  ever 
vigilant  ;  day  and  night  is  their  thought  set 
upon  the  Dhamma,  the  Sangha,  the  body,  com- 
passion [not  harming],  mind-culture. 

302.  Hard  it  is  to  leave  home  as  a  recluse  ! 
hard  also  to  live  at  home  as  a  householder  ; 
hard  is  the    community  life  ;    the  lot  of    the 
wanderer  in  the  world  is  also  hard. 

303.  The   faithful,    upright   man   is   endowed 
with  [the  true]  fame  and  wealth,  and  is  honoured 
wherever  he  goes. 

304.  Far  off  are  seen  the  Holy  Ones,  like  the 
Himalayas  :    the  unholy  pass  unseen  as  arrows 
shot  in  the  darkness. 

305.  Alone  when  eating,  alone  when  sleeping, 
alone  when  walking,  let  a  man  strongly  control 
himself  and  take  his  pleasure  in  the  forest  glade. 


§  xxii 

HELL 

306.  THE  liar  goes  to  hell,  and  the  villain  who 
denies  his  crime  ;  these  mean  ones  are  alike  in 
the  world  beyond. 

307.  Though  clad  in  yellow  robe,  the  man  of 
many  sins  who  is  uncontrolled  is  born  in  hell : 
the  sinner  is  punished  by  his  sin. 

308.  Better  to  swallow  a  ball  of  red-hot  iron 
than  to  live  uncontrolled  upon  the  bounty  of 
the  faithful. 

309.  Four  evil  consequences  follow  the  sluggard 
and  the  adulterer  :   retribution,  broken  slumber, 
an  evil  name,  and  in  the  end  hell. 

310.  That    way  lie    retribution    and   an    evil 
character,     the    short-lived    joy    of    trembling 
sinners,   and  a  heavy  penalty  from  the  ruler. 
Therefore  run  not  after  thy  neighbour's  wife. 

311.  As  pampas-grass  clumsily  handled  cuts 
the  hand,  so  is  the  community  life  :    abused,  it 
brings  a  man  to  hell. 

312.  All  duties  carelessly  performed  ;  all  vows 


A   TASK   WELL   DONE  69 

slightingly   observed  ;    the   recluse   life   that  is 
open  to  suspicion — these  bear  no  great  fruit. 

313.  If  a  duty  is  to  be  done,  do  it  with  thy 
might  :     a    careless    recluse    scatters    contagion 
broadcast. 

314.  Better  leave  undone  a  bad  deed  ;    one 
day  the  doer  will  lament :    good  it  is  to  do  the 
good  deed  which  brings  no  remorse. 

315.  As  a  fortress  guarded  within  and  without, 
so  guard  thyself.     Leave  no  loophole  for  attack  ! 
They  who  fail  at  their  post  mourn  here,   and 
hereafter  go  to  hell. 

316.  Some  are  ashamed  at  what  is  not  shame- 
ful,  and  blush  not  at  deeds  of  shame  :    these 
perverse  ones  go  to  hell. 

317.  They  who  see  fear  where  there  is  no  fear, 
and  tremble  not  at  fearful  things  :  these  perverse 
ones  go  to  hell. 

318.  They  who  think  evil  where  there  is  no 
evil,    and   make   light   of   grievous   sin :     these 
perverse  ones  go  to  hell. 

319.  But  whoso  calls  sin  sin,  and  innocence 
innocence  :      these    right-minded    ones    go    to 
happiness. 


§  XXIII 

THE   ELEPHANT 

THE  elephant  is   the  symbol  in   Buddhism  of 
endurance  and  solitary  strength. 

320.  I  will  endure  abuse  as  the  elephant  en- 
dures the  arrow  in  the  battle  :  evil  is  the  crowd. 

321.  Men  lead  the  tamed  elephant  into  battle  ; 
upon  his  back  the  king  rides  :    he  who  is  tamed 
and  endures  abuse  patiently  is  praised  of  men. 

322.  Noble  are  the  tamed  mules  ;    noble  the 
blood-horses  of  Sindh,  and  the  great  elephants 
of  war  :   better  is  he  who  has  tamed  himself. 

323.  Not  by  bridling  them  will  one  journey 
to  the  unknown  shore  [Nirvana],  but  by  bridling 
himself. 

324.  Dhanapalako,  the  great  elephant,  is  hard 
to  control  in  the  time  of  rut :    he  will  not  taste 
his  food  in  captivity,  but  longs  after  the  elephant- 
grove. 

325.  If  one  becomes  a  sluggard  or  a  glutton, 
rolling  over  in  gross  sleep  like  a  stall-fed  hog, 

70 


GUARD    YOUR   THOUGHTS  71 

again  and  again  does  he  come  to  the  womb, 
the  foolish  one  ! 

326.  This  mind  of  mine  would  wander  in  days 
of  old  whither  desire  and  lust  and  caprice  led 
it :    now  will  I  control  it  as  a  mahout  controls 
the  elephant  in  rut. 

327.  Be   ye    zealous  :     guard   your   thoughts. 
As  an  elephant  sunk  in  the  mud  extricate  your- 
selves from  the  clutches  of  evil. 

328.  If  you  can  find  a  dutiful  friend  to  go 
with   you,   a   righteous   and   prudent   man   not 
caring  for  hardships,  go  with  him  deliberately. 

329.  If  you  cannot  find  such  a  one,  travel 
alone  as  a  king  leaving  a  conquered  realm,  or 
as  the  elephant  in  the  jungle. 

330.  It  is  better  to  be  alone  ;    there  is  no 
companionship  with  a  fool :    travel  alone  and 
sin  not,  forgetting  care  as  the  elephant  in  the 
jungle. 

331.  Good  are  companions  in  time  of  need  ; 
contentment  with  thy  lot  is  good  ;    at  the  hour 
of  death,  merit  is  a  good  friend,  and  good  is  the 
leaving  of  all  sorrow. 

332.  Good  is  reverence  for  mother  and  father  : 
good,  too,  reverence  for  recluses  and  sages. 

333.  Good    is     lifelong     righteousness ;     and 
rooted  faith    is  good  :    good    is  the  getting  of 
wisdom,  and  good  the  avoiding  of  sin. 


§  XXIV 

DESIRE 

(desire)  is  defined  as  the  hankering  after 
pleasure,  or  existence,  or  success  (or  all  three). 
(Mahavagga  xvi.  20.)  It  is  the  germ  from  which 
springs  all  human  misery  :  birth,  old  age,  and 
suffering.  To  be  rid  of  Tanha  is  to  be  free  of 
pain,  to  pass  into  the  Beyond,  the  painless 
dream-world  of  Nirvana. 

334.  As  the   "  maluwa "  creeper,   so  spreads 
the  desire  of  the  sluggard.     From  birth  to  birth 
he  leaps  like  a  monkey  seeking  fruit. 

335.  Whoso  is  subdued  by  this  sordid  clinging 
desire,   his  sorrows  wax  more   and   more,   like 
"  birana  "  grass  after  rain. 

336.  But  his  sorrows  drop  off  like  water  from 
the  lotus  leaf,  who  subdues  this  sordid,  powerful 
desire. 

337.  I  give  you  this  good  counsel,  all  ye  who 
are  gathered  here  :    cut  out  desire  as  one  digs 
up  the  grass  to  find  the  fragrant  root.       Let 

72 


THE    ROOTS    OF    EVIL  73 

not  Mara  break  you   again   and  again   as   the 
river  breaks  the  rushes. 

338.  A  tree,  though  it  be  cut  down,  yet  springs 
up  again,  if  its  roots  are  safe  and  firm  :    thus 
sorrow,  if  it  be  not  uprooted,  springs  repeatedly 
to  birth. 

339.  If  man's  desires  flow  unchecked,  the  waves 
of  his  lust  and  craving  bear  him  off — misguided 
one  ! 

340.  Everywhere    flow    the   streams ;     every- 
where the  creeper  sprouts  and  takes  hold.     If 
thou  seest  this  creeper  growing,  be  wise  !  pluck 
it  out  by  the  roots. 

341.  Men    hug    delights ;    they    foster     some 
pet  sin,  hankering  after  which  they  suffer  birth 
and  old  age. 

342.  Dogged  by  lust,  men  double  like  a  hunted 
hare.     Fast  bound  in  its  fetters,  they  go  through 
long  ages  to  misery. 

343.  Dogged  by  lust,  they  double  like  a  hunted 
hare.    Throw  off  thy  lust,  O  Bhikkhu,  if  thou 
wouldst  be  free. 

344.  Whoso  has  left  the  tangle  of  home-life 
for  the  solitude  of  the  jungle,  and  goes  back  to 
it,  regard  him  thus  :    "  Lo,  one  who  was  freed, 
and  ran  back  to  his  chains." 

345.  Iron  and  wood  and  hemp — these  sages 
call  not  heavy  bonds,  but  rather  love  of  bejewelled 
women,  and  the  care  for  children  and  wives. 

346.  This    is    a    heavy    bond    indeed :     light 


74  DESIRE 

though  it  seem,  it  drags  men  down,  and  is  not 
easily  cut  off.  Yet  some  there  are  who  cut 
even  this  asunder,  and  leave  behind  them  pleasure 
and  lust,  with  no  backward  glance. 

347.  Some  again  there  are  who  fall  into  the 
meshes  of  their  own  lust  as  the  spider  falling 
into  her  own  net :  even  this  the  wise  cut  through, 
leaving  sorrow  behind,  with  no  backward  glance. 

348.  Lay    aside    past,    future,    and    present, 
escaping  the  world  :    wholly  freed  in  mind,  thou 
shalt  not  again  return  to  birth  and  old  age. 

349.  Desire  waxes  great  in  him  who  is  oppressed 
by    wandering    thoughts,    fired    with    lust    and 
seeking  after  pleasure.     So  doth  he   make   his 
fetters  strong. 

350.  Whoso  delights  in  calming  his  thoughts 
and  looks  askance  at  the  things  of  sense,  will 
thus  come  to  an  end,  and  cut  the  bonds  of  Mara. 

351.  This  will  be  his  last  body,  who  has  reached 
the   goal,   who   is   fearless,   detached,    and   un- 
blameable  :    who  has  pulled  out  the  rivets  of 
existence. 

352.  He  who  is  detached  and  not  grasping, 
a  clever  student  of  the  law  and  its  meaning, 
knowing  the  words  and  their  order,  he  is  called 
the  enlightened  ;    this  is  his  last  birth. 

353.  "  All    conquering    and    all    knowing    am 
I,    detached,    untainted,    untrammelled,    wholly 
freed  by  destruction  of  desire.     Whom  shall  I 
call  Teacher  ?     Myself  found  the  way." 


THE  LAW  SURPASSES  ALL  THINGS    75 

354.  The    gift    of    the    Law    surpasses    every 
gift ;    the  savour  of  the  Law  surpasses  every 
savour ;     the    pleasure    of    the    Law    surpasses 
every  pleasure.     The  destruction  of  desire  con- 
quers all  sorrow. 

355.  Wealth  kills  the  fool  if  he  look  not  to 
the  Beyond  :    for  greed  of  wealth  fools  kill  each 
other. 

356.  Weeds  are  the  bane  of  fields,  and  lust 
the  bane  of  the  crowd.     Therefore  a  gift  given 
where  there  is  no  lust  bears  much  fruit. 

357-9.  Weeds  are  the  bane  of  fields ;  wrath, 
infatuation,  and  avarice  are  the  bane  of  the 
crowd.  A  gift  given  where  there  is  neither 
wrath,  nor  infatuation,  nor  avarice  bears  much 
fruit. 


§xxv 

THE   BHIKKHU 

360.  GOOD  is  restraint  of  eye  and  ear  :   of  smell 
and  taste. 

361.  Good  is  restraint  of  action  and  of  speech  ; 
restraint  of  mind  and  of  every  sense  is  good. 
The  Bhikkhu  restrained  in  all  things  casts  aside 
every  care. 

362.  Best  amongst  the  temperate  is  he  who 
is  temperate  in  hand  and  foot  and  tongue  :    the 
man  of  inward  joy  and  calm,  him  I  call  Bhikkhu. 

363.  The  Bhikkhu  who  is  temperate  and  moder- 
ate in  speech,  not  puffed  up,  but  a  wise  preacher 
and  interpreter — sweet  are  his  words  ! 

364.  He   who   abides   in   the   law   and   takes 
his   pleasure   therein,   revolving  it  in   his  mind 
and  pondering  it,  he  is  a  Bhikkhu  who  falls  not 
away  from  the  Law. 

365.  Let  him  neither  make  much  of  his  own 
gain,  nor  envy  that  of  others  :    the  Bhikkhu  who 
envies  others  attains  not  the  true  meditation. 

366.  Even  the  gods  praise  that  Bhikkhu  whose 

76 


WHOM   THE    GODS    PRAISE          77 

own  gain  is  slight,  yet  who  covets  not  the  gain 
of  other  men,  but  lives  pure  and  strenuous. 

367.  He  who  clings  not  to  self-hood  and  to 
existence,    but   mourns    at   the   vanity   of   this 
fleeting  world,  he  is  called  Bhikkhu. 

368.  The  Bhikkhu  who  lives  kindly  and  trusts 
in  Buddha's  Teaching  he  approaches  Nirvana, 
the  calm  and  blissful  end  of  rebirth. 

369.  Bale  out  the  ship,  O  Bhikkhu,  then  will 
it  go  lightly  ;    cut  the  thongs  of  lust  and  hate  ; 
so  wilt  thou  come  to  Nirvana. 

370.  Cut    the    five    bonds,    leave    other    five, 
and  take  in  their  place  five  more  :    he  who  has 
got  beyond  the  five  evil  states  is  said  to  have 
crossed  the  flood. 

371.  Keep  vigil,  0   Bhikkhu,  be  not  slothful, 
let  not  your  mind  dally  with  delights  :    suffer 
not  the  pangs  of  hell,  and  wail  not  as  the  flames 
devour  you,  "  O  day  of  woe  "  ! 

372.  There  is  no  meditation  apart  from  wisdom  ; 
there  is  no  wisdom  apart  from  meditation.     Those 
in  whom  wisdom  and  meditation  meet  are  not 
far  from  Nirvana. 

373.  Divine  pleasure  is  his  who  enters  into 
solitude,  the  Bhikkhu  who  is  calmed  and  sees 
the  law  with  the  seeing  eye  : 

'374.  Whenever  he  ponders  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  the  elements  of  being,  he  finds  joy 
and  bliss  ;  nectar  it  is  to  those  who  know. 

376.  This  is  the  beginning  in  my  teaching  for 


78  THE    BHIKKHU 

a  wise  Bhikkhu  ;  self-mastery,  contentment,  and 
control  by  the  precepts  :  to  cultivate  those  who 
are  noble,  righteous,  and  zealous  friends  ; 

376.  To  be  hospitable  and  courteous,  this  is 
to  be  glad  and  to  make  an  end  of  sorrow. 

377.  As  jasmine  sheds  its  withered  blossoms 
so,  O  Bhikkhus,  do  you  put  away  lust  and  hatred. 

378.  He  who  is  controlled  in  act,  in  speech, 
in  thought,  and  altogether  calmed,  having  purged 
away  worldliness,  that  Bhikkhu  is  called  calm. 

379.  Come,  rouse  thyself  !     Examine  thine  own 
heart.    The  Bhikkhu  who  is  thus   self-guarded 
and  mindful  will  live  in  happiness. 

380.  Each  man   is   his  own   helper,   each  his 
own  host ;  therefore  curb  thyself  as  the  merchant 
curbs  a  spirited  horse. 

381.  The  glad  Bhikkhu  who  puts  his  trust  in 
Buddha's  Preaching  goes  to  Nirvana,  calm  and 
blissful  end  of  rebirth. 

382.  Let  the    young    Bhikkhu    apply  himself 
to  Buddha's  Preaching  :    so  will  he  light  up  the 
world  as  the  moon  escaped  from  the  clouds. 


§  XXVI 

THE    BRAHMIN 

383.  PLAY  the  man  and  stem  the  flood  of  passion  ! 
Cast  off  your  lusts,  0  Brahmin  ;  having  known 
the  ending  of  the  perishable,  thou  knowest  the 
imperishable,  0  Brahmin. 

384.  When    the    Brahmin    has    travelled    the 
twofold   path   of  meditation,    then   indeed   his 
chains  fall  off  him,  for  he  knows  the  truth. 

385.  Him   I   call   the   Brahmin   whom  desire 
assails  not  from  within  nor  from  without,  in 
whom  is  no  fear,  he  is  indeed  free. 

386.  Him  I  call  Brahmin  who  is  meditative, 
clean  of  heart,  solitary,  who  has  done  his  duty 
and  got  rid  of  taints,  who  has  reached  the  goal 
of  effort. 

387.  The  sun  shines  by  day,  the  moon  lights 
up  the  night ;  radiant  is  the  soldier  in  his  panoply, 
radiant   the   Brahmin   in   his   meditation ;     but 
the   Buddha   in   his   brightness   is   radiant  day 
and  night. 

388.  By  Brahmin  I  mean  one  who  has  put 

79 


80  THE    BRAHMIN 

away  evil ;  for  his  serenity  is  a  man  called 
Samano  ;  for  excluding  his  own  sin  is  a  man 
called  recluse. 

389.  Do  no  evil  to  a  Brahmin  ;    let  not  the 
Brahmin  return  evil  for  evil.     Woe  to  him  who 
kills  a  Brahmin  ;  yea,  rather,  woe  to  that  Brahmin 
who  loses  his  temper  ! 

390.  It  is  no  slight  benefit  to  a  Brahmin  when 
he  learns  to  hold  his  impulses  in  check  ;    from 
whatever  motive  evil  temper  is  controlled,  by 
that  control  grief  is  truly  soothed. 

391.  By  whomsoever  no  evil  is  done  in  deed, 
or  word,  or  thought,  him  I  call  a  Brahmin  who 
is  guarded  in  these  three. 

392.  As    the    Brahmin    honours    the    burnt- 
sacrifice,  so  do  thou  honour  him,  from  whomso- 
ever is  learnt  the  law  of  the  true  Buddha. 

393.  Not  by   matted  locks,   nor  by   lineage, 
nor    by    caste    is  one    a    Brahmin ;    he  is   the 
Brahmin  in  whom  are  truth  and  righteousness 
and  purity. 

394.  What  boots  your  tangled  hair,   0  fool, 
what  avails  your  garment  of  skins  ?     You  have 
adorned  the  outer  parts,  within  you  are  full  of 
uncleanness. 

395.  A   man    clothed    in    cast-off   rags,    lean, 
with   knotted    veins,    meditating    alone    in    the 
forest,  him  I  call  a  Brahmin. 

396.  Not  him  do  I  call  Brahmin  who  is  merely 
born  of  a  Brahmin  mother ;   men  may  give  him 


WHO   IS   THE    BRAHMIN  81 

salutation  as  a  Brahmin,  though  he  be  not 
detached  from  the  world :  but  him  I  call  a 
Brahmin  who  has  attachment  to  nothing. 

397.  Him  I  call  a  Brahmin  who  has  cut  the 
bonds,  who  does  not  thirst  for   pleasures,   who 
has  left  behind  the  hindrances. 

398.  Whoso    has    cut    the    cable,     and     the 
rope  and  the  chain   with  all  its  links,  and  has 
pushed  aside  the  bolt,  this  wise  one  I  call  a 
Brahmin. 

399.  Whoever  bears  patiently  abuse  and  injury 
and  imprisonment,  whose  bodyguard  is  fortitude, 
he  is  the  Brahmin. 

400.  He  is  the  Brahmin  who  does  not  give 
way  to  anger,  who  is  careful  of  religious  duties, 
who  is  upright,  pure,  and  controlled,  who   has 
reached  his  last  birth. 

401.  He  who  clings  not  to  pleasures  as  water 
clings  not  to  the  lotus  leaf,  nor  mustard-seed 
to  the  needle-point,  him  I  call  Brahmin. 

402.  He    is    the    Brahmin    who    in    this   very 
world  knows  the  end  of  sorrow,  who  has  laid 
the  burden  aside  and  is  free. 

403.  Whoso  is  wise  with  deep  wisdom,  seeing 
the  right  way  and  the  wrong,  and  has  reached  the 
goal,  him  I  call  Brahmin. 

404.  He  is  the  Brahmin  who  is  not  entangled 
either  with  householders  or  with  recluses,  who 
has  no  home  and  few  wants. 

405.  He  who  lays  down  the  rod,  who  neither 


82  THE  BRAHMIN 

kills,  nor  causes  the  death  of  creatures,  moving 
or  fixed,  he  is  the  Brahmin. 

406.  Not  opposing   those   who   oppose,   calm 
amidst  the  fighters,  not  grasping  amidst  men 
who  grasp,  he  is  the  Brahmin. 

407.  He  is   the   Brahmin  from   whom   anger, 
and  hatred,  and  pride,  and  slander  have  dropped 
away,   as   the   mustard-seed   from    the    needle- 
point. 

408.  If  one   were   to   preach   gentle,   and   in- 
structive, and  truthful  words  by  which  no  man 
is  offended,  he  is  the  Brahmin. 

409.  Whoso    takes    nothing    small    or    great, 
good  or  bad,  unless  it  be  given  him,  he  is  the 
Brahmin. 

410.  In    whom    are   found   no    longings,    who 
is  free  and  detached  from  this  world  and  the 
next,  he  is  the  Brahmin. 

411.  Him  I  call  a  Brahmin  in  whom  lust  is 
not  found,  who  has  cast  off  doubt,  who  knows 
the  path  that  leads  to  Nirvana  [the  deathless 
state]  and  reaches  it. 

412.  Who   in   this   life    has   passed   from   the 
grip  of  either  merit  or  demerit,  free  of  sorrow, 
cleansed  and  purified,  him  I  call  Brahmin. 

413.  WTho   is   clear   as   the   moon,   pure,    and 
limpid,  and  serene,  who  has  quenched  his  thirst 
for  life  ; 

414.  Who  has  passed  through  this  impassable 
quagmire  of  rebirth,  and  infatuation,  has  waded 


THE   LEADER    SUPREME  83 

through  it  and  got  beyond  it,  who  is  meditative 
and  supplies  no  fuel  to  the  fires  of  lust  and 
doubt,  him  I  call  a  Brahmin. 

415.  Who  in  this  life,  deserting  his  lusts,  goes 
from  home  into  solitude,  and  has  quenched  lust, 
and  with  it  the  desire  to  be  reborn  ; 

416.  Who  in  this  life  deserts  craving,  and  goes 
from    home    into    solitude,    who    has    quenched 
craving,  and  with  it  the  desire  to    be  reborn, 
him  I  call  Brahmin. 

417.  Who  has  left  behind  him  human  pleasures 
and  passed  beyond  heavenly  ones,  and  is  freed 
from  all  entanglement  of  delight ; 

418.  Who  has  left  aside  both  gusto  and  dis- 
gust, who  is  cooled  and  has  in  him  no  spark  of 
rebirth,  victor  in  all  worlds,  and  hero,  him  I  call 
Brahmin. 

419.  He  is  the  Brahmin  who  fully  knows  the 
perishing   of   living    things    and    their   uprising, 
who  is  detached  and  happy  and  wise. 

420.  He  is   the  Brahmin   whose  way  is  not 
known    to    gods,    nor    heavenly   minstrels,    nor 
immortals  ;  the  Arahat  pure  of  all  taint,  him  I 
call  the  Brahmin. 

421.  Whoso  has  nothing  left,  of  past  or  future 
or  present  states,   who  is   poor  and  grasps   at 
nothing,  him  I  call  Brahmin. 

422.  The    Leader   Supreme,    the   heroic,    the 
great  Rishi,  the  Victor  without  lust  and  purified, 
the  Buddha,  he  i$  the  Brahmin. 


84  THE   BRAHMIN 

423.  He  is  the  Brahmin  indeed  who  knows 
his  former  lives,  and  who  knows  heaven  and 
hell,  who  has  reached  the  end  of  births,  the  sage 
whose  knowledge  is  perfect,  and  who  is  perfect 
with  all  perfection. 


THE  END 

OF 
THE  DHAMMAPADA 


NOTES 

1,  2.  THESE  stanzas   contain  two   ideas  which  are  of   the 
very  warp  and  woof  of  Buddhism  : 

(a)  The  view  depends  upon  the  point  of  view ; 

(b)  Thought  is  potent  in  influencing  man's  destiny. 
The    Chinese    Commentary    illustrates    both    these    ideas : 
Two  merchants  listened  to  the  Buddha's  preaching ;    one 
was  delighted,  the  other  angry  :    men  hear  what  they  are 
prepared   to  hear.     Soon  after   one   was   killed,  the  other 
became  King  :   so  potent  is  thought ! 

8.  Cf.  Luke  vi,  48. 

9,  10.  The  Buddha  often  used  a  play  upon  words  to 
arrest  men's  attention  and  help  their  memory.     The  Pali 
of  these  stanzas  contains  a  pun  of  this  kind,  which  cannot 
be  imitated  in  English  :    Kasavam  means  either  the  yellow 
robe  of  the  mendicant,  or  impurity,  stain,  sin. 

11,  12.  The  work  of  Gautama  as  a  preacher  lay  largely 
in  this  directing  of  men's  efforts  :  the  great  reality  is  char- 
acter ;  this  and  this  alone  is  man's  business  upon  earth. 

All  else  are  "  shadows "  not  worth  pursuing.  Cf.  St. 
John's  words :  "  Little  children,  flee  idols  "  (i.e.  "  shadows  "), 
1  John  v,  21.  So  St.  Paul  speaks  of  covetousness  as  "  idola- 
try " — the  pursuit  of  the  great  "  shadow,"  Mammon 
(Col.  iii,  5). 

When  the  Buddhist  puts  on  the  yellow  robe,  he  symbolises 
his  belief  that  "  virtue  is  the  truest  wealth  " :  the  gold  of 
character  is  alone  worth  striving  after.  (Cf.  Dhammapada,  75 
and  note.)  On  the  day  of  his  ordination  (upasampada) 
the  candidate  adorns  himself  with  all  the  jewellery  he  can 
obtain,  and  doffs  it  only  to  don  the  yellow  robe. 

15-18.  Here  and  Hereafter :  i.e.  hi  this  birth  and  the 
next.  Man  may  be, reborn  upon  earth,  or  in  one  of  the 

85 


86  NOTES 

hells  or  in  one  of  the  heavens.  A  demon  who  does  well 
may  become  a  man  or  a  god :  a  god  who  lives  unworthily 
may  become  a  man  or  a  demon. 

Tormented  when  he  goes  to  hell.  The  Buddhist  Temples 
are  full  of  frescoes  of  these  torments  :  men  who  have  killed 
animals  are  being  slowly  devoured  by  them  ;  other  sinners 
are  being  forced  by  demon  torturers  to  climb  spiky  trees, 
or  burnt  in  fires  most  realistically  drawn,  or  made  to  swallow 
balls  of  red-hot  iron;  low-caste  men  who  have  offended 
the  high  castes  are  being  crushed  by  great  rocks  ! 

The  Buddha's  own  discourses  contain  minute  detail  of 
such  torments.  It  is  not  clear  whether  he  was  using  an 
argumentum  ad  hominem,  or  really  believed  in  a  hereafter 
of  physical  torment.  In  any  case  his  moral  code  has  been 
strangely  perverted  hi  modern  Buddhism. 

18.  The  reward  for    virtue  is  twofold — the  approval  of 
conscience  and  a  good  rebirth. 

19.  Cf.  Matt,  xxiii,  2  ;  John  x,  12. 

20.  The  holy  ones  :    Arahats,  those  who  have  attained. 
The  sentence  means :    "  he  is  on  his  way  to  Nirvana." 

21.  Amatapadam :    lit.  "  The  endless  or  deathless  state" 
(Fausboll).     Nirvana  is  defined  by  many  such  phrases  in 
the  Dhammapada — sometimes  negative,  as  here ;  sometimes 
positive,  as    in    23 — "  highest    freedom."     Whatever    the 
Supreme  Bliss  be,  it  is  unlike  all  human  experience  save 
that  of  the  Arahat. 

Rhys  Davids  translates  "  ambrosia,  or  nectar." 
As   it  were  dead :   i.e.    spiritually  or   morally  dead.     Cf. 
"Let  the  dead  bury  then:  dead,"  Matt,  viii,  22,  and  "The 
life  of  the  fool  is  worse  than  death,"  Ecclus.  xxii,  11. 

22.  The  lot  of  the  Noble.     The  word  "  Aryo "  meant  in 
Gautama's  day  Nobleman,  or  Aryan.  He  defined  the  noblem  an 
anew,  making  nobility  consist  not  in  birth,  but  in  conduct. 
Then  he  developed  the  meaning  till  it  stood  for  Arahats — 
the  experts  in  his  system,  those  who  have  attained. 

23.  Meditation:  jhanam — that  ecstatic   contemplation  in 
which  the  mind,  rapt  from    the  sounds  and  sights  of   the 


NOTES  87 

ordinary  world,  concentrates  itself  upon  some  single  object 
or  idea ;  this  leads  to  serenity  and  a  unique  bliss,  an- 
ticipation of  Nirvana. 

Highest  freedom.  Nirvana  is  complete  freedom  from :  (1) 
The  body  and  suffering :  (2)  Desire  and  other  taints. 

25.  An  island :   i.e.  Nirvana. 

Self-control,  temperance.  Buddhism  makes  much  of  the 
"  cardinal  virtues." 

26.  The  Buddhist  motto  may  be  said  to  be  "  Strive  without 
ceasing." 

27.  The  joy  which  is  born  of    meditation  plays  a  great 
part  in  Buddhist  psychology  and  ethics.     (Cf.  Rhys  Davids' 
Early  Buddhism,  pp.  62-5.) 

28.  Contrast  this  somewhat  Epicurean  attitude  with  St. 
Paul's  exhortation  "  Rejoice  with  them  that  do  rejoice,  and 
weep  with  them  that  weep  "  (Rom.  xii,  15). 

The  Buddhist  position  is  in  reality  midway  between  the 
Epicurean  and  the  Christian ;  it  is  stoical :  the  attitude 
to  be  assumed  towards  the  "  crowd "  is  either  mettam, 
benevolence  if  (one's  own  salvation  being  certain)  one  can 
help  them :  or  it  is  upekhd,  detachment.  "  What  can't 
be  cured  must  be  endured."  Mudita,  sympathy,  and 
Karund,  pity,  are  also  duties,  but  it  is  no  use  wasting  these 
upon  the  blinded  and  foolish  crowd.  (Cf.  61,  64.) 

30.  Sakra:  i.e.   Indra,  a  high  god  of  Hinduism  whom 
Buddhism  has  relegated  to  the  rank  of  an  archangel,  ruling 
the  Tavatimsa  heaven.     He  is  said  to  have  been  a  young 
Brahmin  who  for  his  7eal  in  doing  good  was  reborn  as  Sakra. 
His  human  name  was  Magha.     He  is  regarded  by  Buddhists 
as  a  kind  of  recording  angel.     (Childers;) 

31.  Bhikkhu.     The  "religious"  of  Buddhism  is  neither 
"  priest "  nor  "  monk  "  in  the  strict  sense,  for  he  offers  no 
sacrifice,  and  he  lives  not  alone,  but  either  with  one  or  two 
others,  or  with  the  "  community."     The  word  "  bhikkhu  " 
means  "  mendicant." 

The  greater  and  the  lesser  bonds:  all  those  "trammels"  which 
bind  him  to  the  phenomenal  world ;  all  that  affects  his  senses. 


88  NOTES 

33.  In  his  doctrine  of  the  mind,  Gautama  was  no  pessimist ; 
it  is  by  nature  fickle  and  difficult  to  control :  yet  nurture 
can  make  it  stable  and  obedient.     (Cf.  especially  40,  where 
Gautama's  optimistic  attitude  to  the  mind  is  thrown  into 
strong  relief  by  his  pessimistic  attitude  to  the  body ;    if  the 
body  be  brittle  and  of  slight  value,  yet    the  mind  may  be 
made  strong  and  precious.)     His  pessimistic  attitude  to  the 
body  is  partly  assumed  with  intent  "  to  wean  men  from  it," 
and  this  view  is  borne  out  by  the  genial  attitude  he  takes 
towards  asceticism :    once  a  man  has  learnt  to  sit  loose  to 
the  things  of  sense  he  is  free  to  enjoy  them.     Gautama  laid 
himself  open  to  the  name  of  worldling,  and  the  immediate 
cause  of  his  death  was  his  courteous  acceptance  of  the  rich 
meal  prepared  for  him  by  Cunda  the  smith. 

34.  The  simile  is  obscure :   it  is  apparently  only  intended 
to    make  one    point  clear — the    palpitating  effort    needed 
to  escape  Mara. 

39.  Merit.  The  desire  for  merit  is  almost  universal  in 
Buddhist  lands ;  yet  Buddha  teaches  that  man  should  act 
with  his  eye  fixed  not  upon  "  merit,"  but  upon  Nirvana. 
(But  cf.  53.)  By  "merit"  is  meant  the  credit  balance 
in  the  bank  of  character — procuring  rebirth  to  a  happy 
life  on  earth,  or  in  a  heaven. 

46.  The  flowery  sliafts  of  Mara :  the  insidious  advances 
of  the  King  of  Death.  Cf.  Ps.  v,  9 :  "  They  flatter  with 
their  tongue." 

49.  The  mendicant  is  to  take  what  is  given  him  by  the 
faithful,  doing  them  no  harm,  and  taking  nothing  but  what 
they  freely  give. 

51.  Cf.  Matt,  xxiii,  3:    "They  say  and  do  not." 

54.  Natural  law  is  not  universally  valid  in  the  spiritual 
world ! 

56.  Certain  "  rishis,"  having  neglected  cleanliness  in 
their  pursuit  of  holiness,  were  ashamed  to  come  into  the 
presence  of  the  gods :  "  Never  fear,"  said  the  gods, 
"  our  nostrils  are  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  your  good 
deeds." 


NOTES  89 

Cf.  our  phrases :  "  The  odour  of  sanctity  "  ;  "  The  beauty 
of  holiness." 

61.  According  to  Buddhism  neither  will  profit  by  such 
companionship.  (Cf.  64.) 

64.  Cf.  Ecclus.  xxii,  7 :  "He  that  teacheth  a  fool  is  as 
one  that  glueth  a  potsherd  together." 

70.  i.e.  extreme  asceticism  and  religious  observance 
are  not  worth  a  tithe  of  goodness. 

73-4.  Ambition  and  self-will  are  the  besetting  faults  of 
the  Brahmin. 

75.  Cf.  "  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon." 

76.  The  wise  will  value  a  candid  friend. 

79.  A  better  draught  than  the  soma  juice,  which  led  to 
ecstasy  ! 

89.  That  leads  to  Arahatship.  SambSdhi  (Arahatship) 
has  seven  component  parts,  which  may  be  taken  to  represent 
the  Buddhist  ideal  of  character :  mindfulness,  wisdom, 
energy,  joyousness,  serenity,  concentrated  meditation,  and 
equanimity. 

Whose  delight  is  in  renunciation.     Cf.  Bhagavad-Gita  xii : 
"  Near  to  renunciation — very  near — 
Dwelleth  eternal  Peace." 

92,  93.  Whose  goal  is  the  freedom  ...  A  definition  of  Nirvana. 
The  Commentator  explains  the  simile  as  expressing  the 
mysterious  freedom  of  Arahats  in  the  spiritual  sphere. 
(Cf.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest 
the  sound  of  it,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  and 
whither  it  goeth  :  So  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 
— John  iii,  8.) 

94.  Even  the  gods.    The  true  Buddhist  is  above  all  gods  ! 
Charioteer.     Cf.  Plato's  famous  simile  of  the  Charioteer 

Reason  and  the  two  horses  of  Sensibility  and  Spirit :  one 
rebellious,  the  other  docile.  Cf.  also  "  The  spirit  is  willing, 
but  the  flesh  is  weak." 

95.  Whose  patience  is  as  the  earth's  :     the  earth  does  not 
shrink  or  protest  whatever  is  laid  upon  it. 

97.  This  is  one  of  those  curious  enigmas  or  puzzles  which 


90  NOTES 

occur  in  the  Buddha's  teaching.  It  can  be  translated  in  a 
sense  opposed  to  that  here  given :  viz.  "  Best  of  men  is  the 
faithless,  the  ungrateful,  the  rebel,  who  has  lost  his  chance  of 
salvation,  who  has  given  up  all  hope."  It  was  spoken  by 
Gautama  to  some  thirty  recluses  who  accused  Sariputto  of 
these  faults,  because  he  told  his  master  not  to  preach  to 
him,  but  to  them,  "  I  already  know  the  truth  by  experience  ; 
these  others  need  it  on  authority :  therefore  preach  to 
them."  Buddha's  words  express  with  great  skill  the  two 
ways  in  which  he  and  the  recluses  looked  upon  his  disciple's 
sturdy  confidence.  It  is  of  course  quite  impossible  in  an 
analytic  language  like  English  to  reproduce  the  puns. 

100.  Cf.  St.  Paul :  "  I  had  rather  speak  five  words  with 
my  understanding,  that  I  might  instruct  others  also,  than 
ten  thousand  words  in  a  tongue."  (1  Cor.  xiv,  19.) 

103-5.  Cf.  Prov.  xvi,  32 :  "  He  that  is  slow  to  anger 
is  better  than  the  mighty :  and  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit 
than  he  that  taketh  a  city." 

104,  105.  Buddhist  ethics  make  much  of  the  truth  that 
external  forces  cannot  harm  the  true  man:  man  cannot 
be  hurt  except  by  himself.  (Cf.  124.) 

106.  Cf.  1  Sam.  xv,  22  :  "  To  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice." 

109.  Cf.   Manu,  II,  121 :    and  Asoka's   Rock  Edict,  II : 
"  Father  and  mother  must  be   hearkened  to  ...  this  leads 
to   length  of   days."     Cf.   also   the  fifth   commandment  of 
the  Decalogue :    "  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother  that 
thy  days  may  be  long  in  the  land." 

110,  111.  Cf.   the  Psalmist:     "One  day  in  Thy  courts 
is  better  than  a  thousand." 

125.  Gautama  again  and  again  insists  that  natural  law 
holds  good    in  the  spiritual    world,  though  there    are  ex- 
ceptions.    (Cf.  54.) 

126.  Oo  to  the  womb  :   i.e.  are  born  upon  earth. 
127-8.  Cf.  Introduction,  p.  13. 

129-32.  Cf.  Luke  vi,  31 :  The  Golden  Rule. 
141.  Doubt :   one  of  the  deadly  sins  in  Buddhism.     The 
Buddha  claimed  omniscience,  and  though  he  did  not  dis- 


NOTES  91 

courage  investigation  and  inquiry,  from  the  great  mass  of 
men,  who  are  ignorant  and  foolish,  he  demanded  the  plunge 
of  faith. 

Matted  hair,  etc.  The  Sumagadha-avadana  relates  that 
Sumagadha,  seeing  the  naked  and  unkempt  ascetics  of 
Brahminism,  exclaimed :  "  O  Mother,  if  these  are  saints, 
what  must  sinners  be  like  ?  "  (Cf.  Max  Miiller's  Dham- 
mapada,  p.  38.) 

142.  Buddhism — so  often  labelled  pessimistic — is  striking 
in  the  genial  attitude  it  takes  towards  asceticism.  It  en- 
courages fasting  only  as  a  means  to  self-control  and  con- 
centration of  mind:  for  the  rest  the  only  kind  of  fasting 
it  urges  is  "  fasting  from  sin."  Even  the  "  man  of  the 
world  "  may  be  a  true  "  Brahmin  " — though  it  is  very 
difficult.  (Cf.  Asoka's  Minor  Rock  Edict,  I :  "  Even  by  the 
small  man,  who  chooses  to  exert  himself,  immense  heavenly 
bliss  may  be  won.") 

The  Samana :  lit.  "  the  calmed  "  (see  note  on  264). 

144.  By  faith  Buddhism  means  the  calm  acceptance  of  all 
Gautama  taught :  after  his  death  it  ceased  to  be  an  attitude 
to  his  person  and  became  a  conviction  that  his  claims  to 
omniscience  were  well  founded,  and  that  his  system  is  the 
true  interpretation  of  the  world  and  of  human  life. 

But  Buddhism  is  nothing  if  not  psychological,  and  faith 
(saddha)  came  to  mean  a  subjective  state  of  consciousness 
akin  to  serenity  (passadhi),  consequent  upon  acceptance  of 
Buddha's  teaching. 

146.  Fire  is  for  the  Buddhist  the  synonym  of  suffering : 
all  is  regarded  as  a  flux — the  world  dissolving  "  with  fervent 
heat."  There  is  no  meaning  or  permanence  in  this  world : 
all  the  more  need  to  seek  salvation.  In  the  burning  heat  of 
India  the  metaphor  is  a  very  vivid  one  for  weariness  and  pain. 

147-51.  The  Body  too  is  a  poor  thing :  in  these  ways 
Buddhism  is  distinctly  pessimistic  as  compared  with 
Christianity,  which  sees  in  the  world  a  potential  Kingdom 
of  God,  and  in  the  human  body  a  "  temple  of  the  Holy 
Spirit "  :  yet,  be  it  noted,  Gautama  painted  this  lurid  picture 


92  NOTES 

with  intent  to  awaken  men  to  the  powers  of  their  mind  and 
character. 

150.  A  citadel  of  bones.     There  are  occasional  gleams  of 
grim  humour  in  the  Buddhist  books :    the  following  story 
illustrates  both  the  "  law  of  apperception  "  and  the  Buddhist 
attitude  to  the  body.     The  hermit  Maha-Tissa  was  walking 
near  Anuradhapura  meditating  upon  the  transiency  of  life. 
A  woman  who  had  quarrelled  with  her  husband  passed  him, 
gaily  dressed  and  bejewelled,  and  smiled  at  him,  showing 
her  pearly  teeth.     When  the  husband,  who  was  in  pursuit, 
came  up  with  him  he  called  to  him :    "  Reverend  Sir,  did 
you  see  a  woman  pass  this  way  ?  "     "I  saw  only  a  skeleton," 
replied  the  sage ;  "  whether  it  was  man  or  woman  I  know 
not "  (Visuddhi-Maggai). 

151.  Cf.  "  My  words  shall  never  pass  away." 

152.  Like  the  ox.     So  the  prophet  Amos  addresses  the 
fat  and  sensual  women  of  his  day:    "Ye  kine  of  Bashan" 
(Amos  iv,  1) :    "  massive  in  body  but  small  in  mind  "  (cf. 
Deut.  xxxii,  15). 

153.  154.  These  famous  words  are  held  by  Buddhists  to 
have  been  those  uttered  by  Gautama  at  the  moment  of  en- 
lightenment. 

The  allegory  that  underlies  them  is  this :  The  Builder 
is  Desire  (Tanha)  the  cause  of  rebirth :  the  seeker  tried 
long  to  find  this  cause  ;  at  the  moment  of  his  enlightenment 
it  flashed  into  his  mind,  "  If  desire  be  dead,  then  there  is 
nothing  to  bind  man  to  the  wheel  of  existence."  The  Builder 
causes  the  body  to  be  built :  its  "  corner-stone  "  (or  ridge- 
pole) is  ignorance  (avijja),  and  its  "  beams  "  are  bad  states 
of  consciousness. 

Admirably  rendered  by  Sir  Edwin  Arnold : 

"  Many  a  house  of  life 

Hath  held  me — seeking  ever  him  who  wrought 
These  prisons  of  the  senses,  sorrow-fraught ; 
Sore  was  my  ceaseless  strife. 

But  now, 
Thou  Builder  of  this  tabernacle — Thou  ! 


NOTES  93 

I  know  Thee  !     Never  shall  Thou  build  again 

These  walla  of  pain, 
Nor  raise  the  roof -tree  of  deceits  ;   nor  lay 

Fresh  rafters  on  the  clay  ; 
Broken  Thy  house  is,  and  the  ridge-pole  split  ! 

Delusion  fashioned  it  ! 
Safe  pass  I  them — deliverance  to  obtain." 

155.  Cf.  "  Like  a  pelican  of  the  wilderness  "  (Ps.  cii,  6). 

157.  This  is  a  practice  enjoined  in  the  Books  :   the  passage 
may  mean  also  "  for  one  of  the  three  periods  of  life." 

158.  Cf.  Matt,   vii,   1-5  :    "  Judge  not,   that  ye  be  not 
judged,"  etc. 

164.  Bears  fruit  ...     It  dies  down  after  flowering. 

166.  The  hedonistic  note  in  Buddhism  cannot  be  denied  : 
"  Ethics,"  says  Dr.  Martineau,  "  must  either  perfect  them- 
selves in  religion,  or  disintegrate  themselves  in  hedonism." 
Buddhist  ethics,  seeing  no  great  social  purpose  being  worked 
out  in  the  world,  fails  to  reconcile  the  claims  of  self-culture 
and  benevolence,  falling  back  upon  the  monastic  com- 
promise that  in  the  long  run  self-culture  is  the  highest 
benevolence.  (Cf.  Introduction,  p.  14) 

171.  It  looks  gay  and  splendid :  it  is  an  engine  of  de- 
struction ;  it  is  treacherous  as  a  morass. 

174.  Cf.  Matt,  vii,  14  :  "  Narrow  is  the  way  which  leadeth 
unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it." 

Ps.  cxxiv,  7  :  "  Our  soul  is  escaped  as  a  bird  out  of  the 
snare  of  the  fowler." 

175.  The  East  has  always  held   that  holy  living  gives 
miraculous  power.     Arahats  were  said  to  possess  this  power 
(jddhi)  of  flying  through  the  air,  or  "  levitation."     There  are 
still  Hindus  who  claim  these  powers  :  but  southern  Buddhism 
does  not  take  them  seriously.     I  asked  several  Buddhists  if 
this  power  were  now  attainable.      "Possibly  in  Thibet," 
they  answered.* 

176.  Cf.  Jas.  ii,  10 :    "  Whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole 

*  "  The  Buddhist,"  vol.  i,  No.  9,  contains  an  account  by 
an  eye-witness  of  a  self -levitated  lama. 


04  NOTES 

law,  and  yet  stumble  in  one  point,  he  is  become  guilty  of  all." 
But  the  underlying  idea  in  St.  James,  of  loyalty  to  the 
King,  is  of  course  not  present  to  the  Buddhist  mind. 

178.   Universal  empire  :    the  height  of  worldly  ambition. 

Conversion :  i.e.  the  first  step  towards  Nirvana,  when 
the  attention  is  fixed  upon  the  Supreme  Bliss.  "  Sotdpatti  " 
means  "  entering  the  stream,"  up  which  the  convert  has 
to  forge  his  way.  After  this  ethical  change  he  may  have 
to  undergo  seven  more  births  before  he  attains  the  goal. 

182.  The  Buddha,  being  free  of  all  taints  or  germs  of 
rebirth,  has  no  crack  in  his  armour  through  which  he  may 
be  wounded :    i.e.  he  has  no  cause  of  rebirth. 

183.  The  ideal  is  not,  as  is  often  said,  merely  negative : 
it  is  also  positive  and  inward.     Cf.  St.  Paul's  more  emphatic 
words :    "  Abhor  that  which  is  evil,  cleave  to  that  which  ia 
good"     (Rom.  xii,  9). 

The  Buddhas.  According  to  the  Books  there  are  many 
Buddhas  :  some  in  the  dim  past,  others  in  the  distant  future. 
In  Ceylon,  Buddhists  look  wistfully  for  the  coming  Buddha 
— Metteyya  or  Maitri — the  Loving  One.  In  Japan  they 
worship  Amida  Buddha — an  ideal. 

184.  The  word  translated    "  fortitude  "  is  "  kantibalam," 
patience-strength,  that  blending  of  great  qualities,  passive 
and  active,  Eastern  and  Western,  which  is  as  rare  as  it  is 
beautiful. 

194.  Cf.  Ps.  cxxiii,  1 :  "  Behold  how  good  and  pleasant  it 
is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity." 

197-200.  This  section  may  be  regarded  as  the  Buddhist, 
analogue  of  the  Beatitudes  of  Christ :  it  depicts  the  blessed 
life  as  a  life  of  calm  and  peace  ;  either  solitary  or  in  the 
company  of  Buddha's  true  followers,  a  man  may  enjoy  that 
bliss  which  is  the  bloom  upon  virtue  in  this  life :  and  here- 
after the  Rest  of  the  Ineffable. 

207.  Like  Jesus,  Gautama  offers  his  followers  a  family  life 
whose  ties  are  more  intimate  and  tender  than  those  of  blood. 
In  the  Sangha  they  are  to  find  their  kinsfolk  and  a  better 
family  life  than  they  have  left.  [C/.  "  Who  is  My  mother 


NOTES  06 

or  My  brethren  ?  .  .  .  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God, 
the  same  is  My  brother  and  My  sister  and  mother." — Mark 
iii,  35.]  Yet  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  to  enter  this 
company  a  man  must  be  a  celibate :  and  that  perfect 
solitude  is  held  up  as  the  safer  ideal. 

208.  The  cold  clear  moonlight  of  this  simile  is  symbolic 
of  the  Buddhist  ideal. 

212,  213.  Buddhism  teaches  benevolence  to  all,  attach- 
ment to  none.  It  is  a  monastic  ideal,  and  may  be  paralleled 
from  such  books  as  the  Imitatio  Christi.  Cf.  Bk.  I, 
chap,  viii :  "  We  must  have  charity  towards  all,  but 
familiarity  is  not  expedient." 

There  is,  however,  a  vital  difference :  the  Buddhist 
Bhikkhu  is  to  shun  society  that  nothing  may  mar  his  self- 
culture  :  the  Christian  monk  that  he  may  be  "  familiar 
with  God  alone,  and  with  His  Angels."  When  Prince 
Siddhartha  (afterwards  the  Buddha)  heard  of  the  birth  of 
his  son  Rahula,  and  they  tried  to  bring  him  back,  he  is  said 
to  have  remarked :  "  That  is  one  more  bond  to  be  cut." 
The  "  Great  Renunciation  "  involved  no  less  than  this. 

218.  The  Ineffable.  The  Buddha  describes  Nirvana 
probably  from  his  own  experience  of  that  ecstatic  joy  which 
is  said  to  be  the  reward  of  deep  meditation. 

This  word  "  ineffable  "  is  one  used  all  by  who  have  known 
this  experience.  Cf.  Myers'  St.  Paul : 

"  Oh  could  I  tell,  ye  surely  would  believe  it  ! 
Oh  could  I  only  say  what  I  have  seen  ! 
How  should  I  tell,  or  how  can  ye  receive  it,  • 
How  till  He  bringeth  you  where  I  have  been  ?  " 

and  St.  Paul's  words  of  his  own  experience  in  2  Cor.  xii,  2-4. 
Against  the  stream.  The  fight  for  character  is  one  against 
long  odds.  Nature  has  at  times  to  be  "pitchforked." 
(Cf.  Mrs.  Rhys  Davids'  Buddhist  Psychology,  p.  Ixvii.) 
Man  is  not  at  the  mercy  of  the  "  stream  "  of  natural  impulse  ; 
but  swimming  against  i,t  is  hard  work.  (Cf.  244,  245.) 


96  NOTES 

221.  Phenomenal  existence :  Pali  namd  rupa,  "  name  and 
form,"  i.e.  things  mental  and  material. 

227.  Atida :  according  to  the  Commentator,  one  of 
Gautama's  disciples :  he  is  not  mentioned  elsewhere.  If 
we  read  "  atulam  "  the  meaning  is  "  an  incomparable  saying." 

241.  Disuse  .  .  .  mantras :  i.e.  if  the  words  are  not  used 
they  are  forgotten. 

251.  Lust  .  .  .  hatred  .  .  .  folly.     The  three  inveterate  foes 
of  the  good  life.     Buddhism  sees  that  man  has  in  him  ape, 
tiger,  and  ass.     (Cf.  Introduction,  p.  15.) 

252.  Or  "as  the  fowler  hides  his  snare." 

254,  255.  We  have  followed  the  Sinhalese  scholar,  Mr. 
James  D'Alwis,  in  this  translation :  he  is  supported  by  the 
Commentary.  Another  possible  rendering  is:  "No  one 
outside  the  Buddhist  community  can  walk  through  the  air, 
but  only  a  samana"  (Fausboll).  But  this  taxes  the 
construction  too  severely,  and  as  Professor  Max  Miiller 
says,  Buddha  did  not  encourage  the  display  of  miraculous 
power. 

264.  Cf.  Imitatio  Christi,  bk.  I,  chap,  xvii :  "  The  habit 
and  the  shaven  crown  do  little  profit :  but  change  of  manners, 
and  perfect  mortification  of  passions  make  a  true  religious 
man." 

Samano,  before  Gautama's  day,  meant  "  ascetic,"  being 
derived  from  the  root  "sram" — to  work  hard,  to  do  penance. 
He  gave  a  new  derivation  and  a  new  significance  to  the 
word— sam,  meaning  "  calm." 

264-9.  These  stanzas  contain  a  play  on  the  words : 
Gautama  is  giving  new  definitions  of  current  terms.  It  is 
hardly  possible  to  render  these  in  English :  perhaps  in  264-5 
the  use  of  the  word  "  religious  "  as  both  noun  and  adjective 
is  a  fair  analogy  from  Christian  monasticism.  The  pun  in 
270  is  only  to  be  permitted  as  illustrating  the  spirit  of  the 
section. 

268-9.  So  Asoka  says  of  impiety  and  piety :  "  The  one 
course  avails  me  for  the  present  life,  the  other  avails  me 
also  for  the  life  to  come."  (Pillar  Edict,  III) ;  and  Thomas 


NOTES  97 

&  Kempis,  quoting  Phil,  iii,  8 :  "  He  is  truly  prudent, 
that  regards  all  earthly  things  as  dung,  that  he  may  gain 
Christ." 

270.  Meekness  is  the  true  heroism :  "  Blessed  are  the 
meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth  "  ;  "  Fight  the  good 
fight."  As  in  mediaeval  Europe,  so  in  ancient  India,  all 
"nobles"  (Aryans)  were  warriors.  Gautama  gives  a  new 
definition  of  the  true  knight.  (Cf.  the  history  of  the  words 
"chivalry,"  "gentle,"  and  "generous,"  under  Christian 
influences.) 

273.  The  four   truths :    suffering :    its    cause :    its   cure : 
the  eightfold  path  of  escape. 

The  seer  :  cakkhumd,  the  man  who  has  the  eye  for  truth : 
the  man  of  insight. 

274.  The   "  seeing  of  Purity."      The  phrase  may  mean 
equally  well  the  "  purification  of  vision."    The  man  of  insight 
is  the  pure  man  ;   to  one  who  ventured  to  dispute  Gautama's 
judgment  he  exclaimed :  "Shall  he  whose  mind  is  dominated 
by   passion  surpass    the   Blessed   One  in   wisdom  ? "     (Cf. 
Christ's  words :   "  My  judgment  is  just,  because  I  seek  not 
Mine  own  will.") 

276.  Blessed  Ones  :  Tathagata,  "  those  who  have  arrived," 
or  reached  Nirvana. 

277-9.  "  All  is  passing " :  one  of  the  leading  tenets 
of  Heraclitus  and  the  Orphists,  who  belong  to  the  same 
century  as  the  Buddha  (sixth  century  B.c).  Their  teaching, 
so  far  as  it  has  survived,  has  many  points  of  similarity 
with  his. 

"  All  is  passing  .  .  .  all  is  sorrow  .  .  .  all  is  unreal." 
The  words  ring  out  again  and  again  like  the  solemn  tolling 
of  some  cloister  bell,  summoning  men  away  from  the  pursuit 
of  shadows,  to  that  only  worthy  object  "  the  path  of  Purity  " 
— Nirvana. 

283.  Vanam  means  either  "  lust  "  or  a  "  forest "  :  English 
cannot  reproduce  the  play  upon  words. 

284.  Even  married  love  is  regarded  by  Buddhism  as  an 
"  entanglement "  of  this  kind. 

7 


98  NOTES 

286.  Cf.  the  parable  of  the  Rich  Fool,  and  St.  James  : 
"  Go  to  now,  ye  that  say  to-day  or  to-morrow  we  will  go 
into  the  city,  and  spend  a  year  there  .  .  .  whereas  ye  know 
not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow  "  (iv,  13,  14). 

294.  The   Commentator   explains   this   curious   verse   as 
follows :     The   Mother  is   lust :     the  Father  self-will :     the 
Kings  are  heresies — two  extremes  on  either  side  of    the 
middle  path  (cf.  Introductory  Note,  §  xx)  ;  the  Kingdom  is 
sensuality  (cf.  97). 

295.  The  five  roads  are  lust,  hatred,  disturbance  of  mind, 
sloth,  and  doubt. 

301.  The  principal  objects  of  meditation. 

302.  Hard  is  the  community  life  :   reading  samanasamvaso 
with    Max    Miiller    and   the    Chinese    version,   instead    of 
'samanasamvaso  (=  asamanasamvaso)   with  Fausboll  and 
the  Sinhalese. 

The  wanderer  in  the  world :  i.e.  the  layman. 
307.  Suffering  is  the  blight  upon  sin. 

310.  Therefore  ...     Cf.  the  simple  authority  of  the  seventh 
commandment,  "  Thou    shalt  not   commit    adultery,"  and 
of  Christ's   words  to  the   woman  taken  in   adultery,  "  Go 
and  sin  no  more." 

311.  "  Corruptio  optimi  pessima." 

324.  Dhdnapalako  :    i.e.  guardian  of  wealth. 

340.  The  streams  :   sensations. 

The  creeper :   passion. 

344.  The  pun  on  the  word  vanam  (forest  and  lust)  is  re- 
peated here  :  "  tangle  "  perhaps  expresses  both  meanings. 

353.  Spoken,  according  to  the  Commentary,  when  the 
Buddha  was  on  the  way  to  Benares,  and  the  Brahmin  Upaka 
sceptically  asked  him  who  was  his  Teacher,  and  what  the 
cause  of  his  serenity  and  joy.  Here  Gautama  claims  om- 
niscience :  elsewhere  he  claims  to  be  the  only  Teacher : 
"Non  seulement  Cakyamuni  est  source  de  verite,  mais  il 
est  la  source  unique  "  (De  la  Vallee  Poussin,  Bouddhisme, 
p.  138).  (Cf.  Mahavagga  i,  6,  8.) 

356-9.  As  weeds  spoil  a  good  harvest,   so  these  passions 


NOTES  99 

spoil  the  good  harvest  of  character.  Seed  sown  in  clean 
soil  is  fruitful :  so  are  gifts  to  the  Noble. 

370.  The  five  bonds  to  be  cut  are  egoism,  doubt,  false 
asceticism,  lust,  and  hatred.  The  five  to  be  left  off  are 
longing  for  higher  states  of  birth,  for  still  higher  ones,  self- 
will,  want  of  purpose,  and  ignorance.  The  five  to  be  taken 
are  faith,  manliness,  mindfulness,  deep  meditation,  and 
wisdom.  (Commentary.) 

"  He  who  has  crossed  the  flood  "  =  Oghatinna. 

Take  five  more.  Man  is  destined  to  be  yoked,  if  not  by 
sin,  then  by  duty.  (Cf.  "  Whose  service  is  perfect  freedom.") 

373.  Divine  pleasure  :  the  joy  of  the  unified  will. 

384.  Meditation  may  be  either  special  or  general :    i.e. 
upon  any  of  the  forty  objects  which  lead  to  Samadhi,  or 
upon  the  transiency,  sorrow,  and  unreality  of  things. 

For  he  knows  ...  Cf.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  Truth,  and  the 
Truth  shall  make  you  free"  (John  viii,  32). 

385.  Lit.     "  In  whom  is  found    neither  near    bank   nor 
far "  :    i.e.  neither  noticing  external  objects  by  attending 
to  them,  nor  letting  his  desires  go  out  to  seek  them.     (Com- 
mentary.) 

387.  The  face  of  the  seer  is  said  to  shine. 

388.  Deriving  Brahmano  from  the  root  vah — or  bah — to 
put  away. 

394.  Cf.  Luke  xi,  39  ;    Matt,  xxiii,  27. 

398.  The  cable  is  D5sa,  hatred ;  the  chain  with  its  links 
is  Tanha,  desire  in  all  its  forms  ;  the  bolt  is  Moha,  infatuation, 
or  folly. 

395.  This  stanza  seems  to  have  a  Brahminical  origin: 
unless  we  lay  all  the  stress  on  meditating. 

405.  Fixed  or  moving  creatures,  according  to  the  Sinhalese 
Commentary,  refers  either  to  men  or  to  animals.  In  a 
metaphorical  sense,  fixed  creatures  are  Arahats,  moving 
ones  are  common  men.  In  a  literal  sense  fixed  creatures 
may  be  such  things  as  molluscs. 


ILLUSTRATIVE    SAYINGS    OF    THE 
DISCIPLES  OF   THE   BUDDHA 

THE  following  are  selections  from  another  book 
which  bears  the  impress  of  a  very  early  date, 
and  gives  us  vivid  glimpses  of  the  Buddhist 
Ideal :  the  Thera-Theii-Gatha,  or  Songs  of 
the  Elders  and  Sisters.  The  Psalms  of  the 
Sisters,  Mrs.  Rhys  Davids'  fine  translation  of 
the  latter  portion  of  this  book,  is  a  valuable 
commentary  on  the  Dhammapada,  and  reveals 
the  great  power  of  Buddhism  (whilst  the  en- 
thusiasm for  Buddha  was  still  alive)  over  the 
human  heart. 

SAYINGS  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  THE  BUDDHIST 
IDEAL 

Its  asceticism  : 

"  Gold-bedecked  and  bejewelled,  carrying  her  son  upon 
her  hip  and  followed  by  attendants,  came  my  wife. 

"  Beholding  her,  the  mother  of  my  son,  I  beheld  a  snare 
set  by  the  Evil  One  [Mara]."  Thera-gatha,  299. 

"  Where  a  man  dwells  alone,  he  is  as  Brahma  ;  where  two 
dwell,  they  dwell  as  gods  ;  where  three  dwell,  it  is  as  a  village ; 
where  there  are  more,  it  is  a  rabble."  (The  fewer  the  safer  !) 

Ibid.,  245. 

100 


ILLUSTRATIVE    SAYINGS  101 

Its  stoicism  : 

"  The  rain  pours  gurgling  down  :  alone  dwell  I  in  dreadful 
cave.  Yet  for  me  it  holds  not  dread  nor  fear  ;  I  am  one  who 
knows  them  not."  Ibid.,  189. 

"  As  the  elephant  calmly  endures  the  battle,  so  this  lean 
one,  with  limbs  gnarled  as  tree-trunks,  endures  the  sting  of 
insects  as  he  bathes."  Ibid.,  243. 

"  The  cold  dark  nights  of  winter  chap  the  skin  and  freeze 

the  thoughts,  O  Mogharaja  !     What  shall  the  Bhikkhu  do  ? 

"  The  men  of  Magadha  have  taken  in  their  harvest.     I, 

too,  like  others  who  delight  in  life,  will  lie  down  and  take 

my  rest  in  the  straw." 

"  Home  have  I  left  ;    for  I  have  left  my  world  ! 
Child  have  I  left,  and  all  my  cherished  herds  ! 
Lust  have  I  left,  and  Ill-will  too  is  gone, 
And  Ignorance  have  I  put  far  from  me  ; 
Craving  and  root  of  craving  overpowered, 
Cool  am  I  now,  knowing  Nibbana's  peace." 

Theri-gdtha,  18. 
(MRS.  RHYS  DAVIDS'  Translation.) 

Its  earnestness  : 

"  Xot  for  sleep  is  the  star-spangled  night,  but  for  work  to 
him  who  is  wise."  Thera-gathd,  192. 

"  When  disease  assailed  my  body,  then  my  mind  awoke 
and  cried,  '  The  sickness  is  upon  me  !  It  is  high  time  to 
play  the  man.'  "  Ibid.,  30. 

"  Happy  freedom  !  Happy  freedom  !  Good  it  is  to  be  freed 
from  three  crooked  things,  from  scythe  and  plough  and  hoe. 
There  they  stand  ;  no  use  have  I  for  them  !  Let  me  meditate 
again  and  again  ;  let  me  lead  the  strenuous  life  [of  thought]." 

Ibid.,  43. 

"  Of  yore  my  mind  would  wander  whither  caprice  and 
desire  led  it.  To-day  I  hold  it  in  check  as  the  mahout  can 
hold  with  his  prod  the  elephant  in  rut."  Ibid.,  76. 

"  They  who  have  lost  their  foothold  fall.  But  they  can, 
if  they  will,  arise  again  and  yet  again.  I  have  won  up  the 
steep  slope  :  loving  what  is  lovely  I  have  easily  attained." 

Ibid.,  62. 


APPENDIX 
THE    BUDDHIST   IDEAL 

(ARAHATSHIP  OR  NIRVANA) 
AS  DEPICTED  IN  THE  DHAMMAPADA 

THE  "  ambrosial  [or  deathless]  path,"  Nirvana, 
is  the  prize  which  these  stanzas  hold  out  to 
the  strenuous  :  this  is  at  once  the  goal  of  effort 
and  its  cessation,  a  calm  haven  after  strenuous 
voyaging.*  The  seer  speaks  with  a  quiet  rapture 
and  a  serene  assurance  which  convince  us  as  we 
read,  that  whether  it  is  Gautama  himself  who 
speaks,  or  whether  it  is  the  collective  voice  of  his 
followers,  here  is  in  any  case  the  utterance  of 
a  real  experience  of  the  soul.  Can  it  be  that 
these  men  entered  behind  the  veil  of  sense  and 
time,  and  that  their  voices  ring  down  the  ages 
from  that  mysterious  Beyond  to  which  the 
mystics  of  all  ages  have  aspired  ? 

We  cannot  say  ;  yet  it  is  very  clear  that  if 
the  metaphysical  Nirvana  is  a  fantasy,  the 
ethical  Nirvana  is  real  enough  :  and  Gautama 
was  above  all  things  an  ethical  teacher.  That 

*  Upasama  implies  both  the  idea  of  Peace  and  the  idea 
that  there  has  been  a  struggle  to  win  it. 

102 


NIRVANA   HERE    AND    NOW        103 

we  shall  understand  Nirvana  from  a  perusal  of 
those  pages  is  not  likely  ;  that  it  will  attract 
Western  thinkers  is  not  wholly  to  be  desired  ; 
but  we  can  at  least  study  the  ethical  experience 
of  which  Nirvana  is  but  the  description  and  the 
attempted  explanation  :  and  a  grasp  of  what 
Arahatship  means  is  essential  to  the  under- 
standing of  Buddhism.  The  Arahat  is  one  who, 
through  obedience  to  the  preaching  of  Buddha, 
has  reached  that  calm  state  when  the  will  no 
longer  struggles,  but  is  unified  and  at  rest. 

As  the  eagle,  after  long  strain  of  upward  flight, 
stays  poised  in  mid-air,  so  the  seer  reaches  the 
calm  and  severe  heights  of  character.  This  is 
Nirvana  in  the  present  world :  and  Nirvana 
hereafter  may  be  more  mysterious,  but  it  must 
be  of  the  same  kind. 

Very  much  as  the  Christian,  experiencing 
"  the  peace  that  passes  understanding,"  interprets 
in  the  light  of  this  experience  the  serenity  and 
calm  of  the  Hereafter,  so  the  Buddhist  "  saint," 
having  known  the  quiet  and  serenity  of  the 
unified  will,  projects  this  experience  into  the 
future. 

To  both  alike  this  future  is  "  ineffably  sublime  "  ; 
words  fail  men  when  they  attempt  to  speak  of 
the  Beyond  :  and  yet  we  can  piece  together  a 
picture  of  their  inmost  thoughts  from  such 
fragmentary  descriptions  of  their  experience  as 
they  let  fall. 


104  THE    BUDDHIST   IDEAL 

Arahatship  and  Nirvana,  then,  form  one  ideal, 
and  it  is  with  this  that  the  Dhammapada  is 
concerned. 

We  have  seen  that  Nirvana  is  ineffable 
(stanza  218  and  note) ;  but  we  have  also  to 
remember  that  it  can  be  experienced  here  and 
now.  In  stanza  402  we  read; 

"  He  is  the  Brahmin  who  in  this  very  world  knows  the 
end  of  sorrow,  who  has  laid  the  burden  aside  and  is  free."  * 

For  whilst  "  the  burden  "  is  ultimately  bodily 
existence,  yet  it  is  the  sinfulness  and  egoism 
and  pride  of  the  flesh  which  make  that  burden 
so  intolerable  :  the  body  is  in  fact  a  good  servant 
but  a  bad  master,  and  he  who  masters  his  body 
is  already  as  it  were  freed  from  it. 

"  Happy  is  he,"  says  the  Digha  Nikaya,  "  who  is  free  of 
lust  and  beyond  its  power  :  the  highest  bliss  is  freedom 
from  pride  and  self-will." 

"  There  is  no  sorrow  like  existence,  no  bliss  like  Nirvana," 
says  the  Dhammapada. 

"  'The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit,  and  the  spirit  against 
the  flesh,'  cries  St.  Paul.  .  .  .  '  Unhappy  man  that  I  am  ! 
Who  shall  deliver  me  from  this  body  of  death  ?  '  " 

These  and  similar  passages  are  a  cry  for  deliver- 
ance ;  and  both  teachers  insist  upon  the  same 
great  truth,  that  man's  bodily  life,  in  so  far  as 
it  is  dominated  by  self-will  and  lust,  is  an  evil 

*  c/.  stanza  32  :  where  "  near  to  Nirvana "  should 
probably  be  rendered  "in  the  very  presence  of  Nirvana." 
(RHYS  DAVIDS.) 


THE    IDEAL    OF    ESCAPE  105 

to  be  escaped  at  any  cost.  Neither  is  Manichean  : 
it  is  not  the  body  that  is  evil,  but  the  body 
enslaved  by  the  tyranny  of  evil  desires. 

And  for  both  teachers  it  is  the  perversity  of 
the  "  flesh  "  that  shapes  the  ideal  of  escape  ; 
though  the  one  longs  after  the  life  of  dissolution, 
and  the  other  believes  that  he  will  be  "  clothed 
upon  "  with  a  "  glorified  body  "  hereafter.* 

The  salient  feature  of  the  Buddhist  ideal  is 
freedom : 

"  Him  I  call  Brahmin  who  has  cut  the  bonds,  who  thirsts 
not  for  pleasure,  who  has  left  behind  the  hindrances." 

(See  397  and  note  on  398.) 

The  phrase  "highest  freedom"  occurs  more 
than  once  in  these  stanzas  as  a  synonym  for 
Nirvana,  and,  as  Mrs.  Rhys  Davids  has  shown, 
it  is  this  aspect  of  Nirvana  which  is  most  fre- 
quently hymned  in  the  Psalms  of  the  Sisters, 
that  remarkable  collection  of  verses  attributed 
to  the  women-elders  of  the  Sangha.f  (Cf. 
Dhammapada,  90,  92,  93,  96,  etc.) 

Inasmuch  as  this  "  highest  freedom "  is 
escape  from  lust  and  other  "  bonds,"  it  is  an 

*  From  a  more  positive  point  of  view  we  may  say  that 
for  the  Buddhist,  Peace  is  an  ideal  of  equilibrium  now  and 
of  unconsciousness  hereafter  :  for  the  Christian,  Peace  is 
an  ideal  of  conscious  fellowship  with  God  begun  now  and 
hereafter  consummated. 

t  This  collection,  published  by  the  Pali  Text  Society,  will 
go  far  to  prove  how  real  and  deep  was  the  ethical  experience 
of  the  early  Buddhists. 


106  THE    BUDDHIST   IDEAL 

ideal  for  this  life  :  inasmuch  as  it  is  escape  from 
the  round  of  rebirths  it  is  an  ideal  for  the  future  : 
here  Arahatship  passes  over  into  Nirvana.* 

And  in  both  alike  the  way  of  escape  lies  in 
the  mind  of  man  : 

"  All  that  we  are  by  Mind  is  wrought, 

Fashioned  and  fathered  by  our  Thought."  * 

The  Arahat  has  mastered  his  mind  (that  "  frail 
and  fickle  thing  "  that  in  the  worldling  "  leaps 
hither  and  thither,  like  a  monkey  seeking  fruit)  "  ; 
and  therefore  he  is  already  free  from  the  tyranny 
of  the  flesh  (c/.  89).  For  it  is  the  mental  "  bonds  " 
— lust,  pride,  self-will — which  have  bound  him 
through  the  long  waste  of  years  to  one  body 
after  another  ;  and  it  is  "  knowledge  "  which 
sets  him  free  : 

"  He  is  the  Brahmin  indeed  who  .  .  .  has  reached  the 
end  of  rebirths,  the  sage  whose  knowledge  is  perfect,  and 
who  is  perfect  with  all  perfection." 

This  freedom  of  Nirvana  is  envisaged  as  Rest : 
and  there  is  in  these  stanzas  a  cry  for  rest  which 
runs  through  all  the  Buddhist  books  like  some 
pathetic  fugue  :  a  desire  so  passionate  as  to  be 
almost  unintelligible  to  Western  minds. 

But  to  men  obsessed  heart  and  spirit  with  the 

*  In  technical  phraseology  the  ethical  Nirvana  is  called 
Savupadisesanibbanam,  or  Nirvana,  in  whicli  the  five  skandhas 
or  elements  of  being  remain  ;  and  the  metaphysical  Nirvana 
is  called  Anupadisesanibbanam,  or  Nirvana,  in  which  they 
cease  to  exist.  (See  Note  at  end.) 


AN  IDEAL  OF  KINDLINESS         107 

"  weary  weight  of  the  intolerable  years,"  life  after 
life  of  suffering  and  care,  it  is  a  real  longing 
which  here  finds  rhythmic  expression  : 

"  All  is  fleeting,  all  is  unreal,  all  is  sorrowful."     (277-9.) 
"  There   is  no   sorrow,   like   to   existence  :     no   bliss   like 
Nirvana,  the  Supreme  Best."     (202.) 

Worldly  existence  is  wholly  evil ;  but  every 
man  is  free  to  cultivate  the  "  otherworldly " 
frame  of  mind,  and  be  at  peace.  For  Buddhism 
is  in  a  sense  eudaemonistic  ;  it  does  not  flout 
man's  desire  to  be  happy  :  only  it  defines  this 
happiness  in  terms  of  inward  peace  and  self- 
control. 

Section  XV  of  the  Dhammapada  is  the  Bud- 
dhist analogue  of  the  Beatitudes  of  Jesus,  and, 
as  an  ideal  of  the  Happy  Life,  ranks  high  indeed. 

It  is  an  ideal  of  kindliness  and  serenity,  of 
peace  and  unity,  which  is  very  winsome  ;  it 
would  be  hard  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  the  ex-" 
ponents  of  such  a  life  ! 

To  the  Christian  it  seems  none  the  less  an 
ideal  more  passive  and  stoical,  less  loving  and 
mystical  than  that  of  Jesus  ;  and  yet  we  cannot 
but  rejoice  that  the  East  has  had  this  ideal 
so  long  before  it.  To  the  Karma-haunted 
millions  of  India  it  has  shone  with  a  steady 
and  alluring  radiance,  in  time  past  more  potent 
than  to-day,  but  even  now  embedded  in  their 
subconsciousness. 

Its  calm  and  cool  attractiveness  is  beautifully 


108  THE    BUDDHIST   IDEAL 

symbolised  in  the  poetic  imagery  of  the  Dhamma- 
pada  : 

"  The  good  man  shines  like  the  moon  escaped  from  clouds, 
he  is  pure  as  some  unruffled  lake."  (95.) 

And   the   company  of  such  a  leader  with   his 
disciples  is 

"As  the  moon  following  the  path  of  the  stars."     (208.) 

Another  lovely  moonlit  scene  embodies  and 
symbolises  the  spirit  of  this  ideal  : 

The  Buddha's  six  chief  disciples  are  in  a 
park,  and  as  they  sit  in  the  tropical  moonlight 
they  ask  one  another  what  quality  in  the  Bhikkhu 
could  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  scene.  Amongst 
the  answers  are  three  which  throw  light  upon 
the  meaning  of  Arahatship  : 

"  The  peace  and  insight  of  moral  victory,"  says  one, 
"  The  joy  and  insight  of  Emancipation,"  says  another  ; 

and  Sariputta  wins  the  Master's  approval  by  his 
reply: 

"  When  a  Bhikkhu  masters  his  heart  [cittam]  and  does  not 
let  it  master  him." 

"  Hear  from  me,"  says  Gautama.  "  Hear  from 
me  what  kind  of  Bhikkhu  could  add  a  lustre  to 
the  wood  ;  one  who,  sitting  serene  and  controlled, 
resolves  :  *  Till  my  heart  is  freed  from  the  ferments 
of  lust  I  shall  not  quit  my  seat.'  "* 

This  scene    is  most  suggestive,  for   it  throws 

*  Majjhima  Nikaya,  32. 


SOLITUDE   IS    ESSENTIAL  10& 

into  strong  contrast  Buddhist  and  Christian 
Ethics,  and  further  it  leads  us  into  the  heart 
of  a  vexed  and  difficult  problem. 

With  regard  to  the  first  point,  it  is  sufficient 
to  say  here  that  Buddhism  teaches  a  rigorous 
and  calm  self-mastery,  Christianity  demands  a 
passionate  self-surrender. 

With  regard  to  the  second,  we  may  state  the 
problem  thus  :  Is  Nirvana  a  social  ideal  ?  Or 
is  it  an  ideal  of  solitude  and  forgetfulness  ?  The 
answer  seems  to  be  that  Buddhism  holds  out 
no  promiseof  the  reunion  of  emancipated  "souls  "; 
Nirvana  is  the  cessation  of  all  personal  existence  : 
yet  the  experience  of  the  peace  and  joy  of  Noble 
Companionship — such  companionship  and  com- 
munion of  soul  as  is  here  depicted — is  too  good 
not  to  be  desired.  And  this  desire  has  tinged 
the  ideal  picture  of  the  Beyond  :  in  spite  of 
metaphysics  the  ethical  asserts  itself : 

"  Good  is  the  Vision  of  the  Noble  "  (i.e.  Arahats). 
"  Good  is  their  company."     (206.) 

"  A  loyal  friend  is  the  truest  kinsman  : 
Nirvana  is  the  greatest  Bliss."     (204.) 

To  sum  up  the  Buddhist  position  upon  the 
question  of  "  Society  and  Solitude  "  is  no  easy 
task  ;  but  we  may  express  it  tentatively  thus  : 
At  first  solitude  is  essential : 

"  Alone  man  lives  like  Brahma :  in  twos  men  live  like 
gods  :  in  threes  they  are  as  a  village.  More  than  this  is  a 
mob." 


110  THE    BUDDHIST    IDEAL 

And  as  the  Dhammapada  says, 

"  Even  for  great  benefit  to  another  let  no  man  imperil 
his  own  benefit."  (166.) 

But  if  an  Arahat  is  to  be  found,  his  society  can 
do  nothing  but  good  :  let  the  Bhikkhu  resort 
to  him.  If  there  are  a  company  of  Arahats,  let 
them  rejoice  in  communion  and  fellowship. 
And  hereafter 

Nirvana  is  "the  unknown  shore."     (323.) 

It  is  "the  solitude  which  it  is  hard  to  love."     (88.) 

With  all  his  kindliness  and  even  geniality  Buddha 
does  not  disguise  the  fact  that  victory  will  be 
purchased  at  a  heavy  cost : 

"  One  is  the  road  leading  to  wealth  :  another  is  that 
leading  to  Nirvana." 

To  win  to  the  goal  will  mean  asceticism  all  along 
the  line  : 

"  Cut  out  the  bonds.  .  .  . 
Play  the  man.  .  .  . 
Travel  stoutly  alone.  ..." 

Such  are  his  rallying-cries. 

For  the  "  Path  of  Safety  "  is  beset  with  "  evil 
beasts."  And  to  win  across  "  the  torrent  "  to 
the  safety  of  the  "  other  side  "  needs  courage 
and  strenuous  effort.  And,  having  won  through, 
men  will  find  a  great  solitude,  a  peace,  a  freedom, 
only  to  be  purchased  by  ceasing  to  be.  Such  is 
Nirvana  in  the  fullest  sense. 

Freedom  ;   Safety  ;   Rest :   Calmness  ;   Kindli- 


ETHICAL   AND  ATTAINABLE       111 

ness  ;  Self-control :  Solitary  effort  or  the  company 
of  the  select  few.  Above  all,  Bliss,  ineffable  yet 
traceable  to  its  seat  in  the  unified  will.  Such  is 
Arahatship,  or  Nirvana  in  this  present  life. 
It  is  a  lofty  ideal,  and  though  no  Buddhist 
now  strives  to  realise  Nirvana,  yet  there  are  men 
in  all  Buddhist  lands  gazing  into  the  remote 
future  to  see  Arahatship  shining  afar  off  like 
some  dim  yet  lovely  star.  Arid  because  it 
is  ethical,  therefore  it  is  attainable  : 

"  I  ought,  therefore  I  can." 

In  the  days  of  Gautama  it  is  clear  that  men 
reached  the  goal  of  Arahatship,  and  knew  the 
peace  and  joy  of  a  mind  and  conscience  at  rest. 
For  the  contagion  of  his  enthusiasm  and  the 
magnetism  of  his  personality  went  far  to  energise 
ideals  which  are  real  enough  beneath  a  tropic 
sun,  and,  in  so  far  as  they  are  ethical  ideals, 
vital  enough  in  all  lands.  And  to-day  Buddhists 
look  wistfully  to  a  Coming  One,  Maitri,  who 
shall  spur  them  on  to  victory  :  or  they  put 
their  trust  in  the  grace  of  an  Amida  who  demands 
only  faith  in  his  saving  power. 

The  Christian  will  see  in  these  aspirations 
and  yearnings  the  promise  of  a  speedy  fulfilment, 
when  men  see  the  Majesty  and  the  Love  of  God 
revealed  in  Christ :  and  he  will  welcome  the 
teachings  of  Gautama  the  Buddha  as  the  utterance 
of  a  prophet  and  a  seer. 


112  THE    BUDDHIST    IDEAL 

NOTE 

Nirvana  is  thus  explained  in  the  Abhi- 
dhammattha-Sangaha,  translated  by  Mr.  Shwe 
Zan  Aung,  and  published  by  the  Pah'  Text  Society 
under  the  title  Compendium  of  Philosophy. 

OF  NIBBANA 

Now  Nibbana,  which  is  reckoned  as  beyond 
these  worlds,  is  to  be  realised  through  the  know- 
ledge belonging  to  the  Four  Paths.  It  is  the 
object  of  those  Paths,  and  of  their  Fruits.  It 
is  called  Nibbana,  in  that  it  is  a  "  departure  " 
from  that  craving  which  is  called  Vana,  lusting. 
This  Nibbana  is  in  its  nature  single,  but  for 
purposes  of  logical  treatment  it  is  twofold, 
namely,  the  element  of  Nibbana,  wherewith  is 
yet  remaining  stuff  of  life,  and  the  element 
without  that  remainder.  So,  too,  when  divided 
into  modes,  it  is  threefold — namely,  Void,  Sign- 
less, and  Absolute  Content. 

MNEMONIC 

Great  Seers,  wholly  from  Vana — lust  set  free, 
Declare  Nibbana  such  a  path  to  be  : — 
Past  death,  past  end  (it  goes,  this  blessed  way), 
Uncaus6d,  having  no  beyond,  they  say. 

Thus,  as  fourfold,  Tathagatas  reveal, 
The  ultimate  kinds  of  things  we  know  and  feel  : — 
Mind  first,  and  next,  concomitants  of  mind, 
Body  as  third,  Nibbana  last  in  kind. 

Printed  by  Hazell,  Watson  &   Viney,  La.,  London  and  Aylesbury,  England. 


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